Operation Slayers & Non Essentials
by SMoftheApocalypse
Summary: Disclaimer: I do not own, take credit for, advertise nor make money off of anything, just fan's writing fiction.    Post-Chosen, the day of the Sunny D collapse. The lives of the new Slayers and Scoobies unfold after they drive away from the Sunny-D crate
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Yeah Buffy, what are we going to do?"

Dawn's words hung in the air as the dust settled in the crater that used to be Sunnydale in the distance. As the question was asked and silence lingered in the group, a small smile cracked at the corners of Buffy's lips. A few tears formed at the edge of her eyes but she pushed them back, being a true warrior and leader, and let her smile grow bigger, turning to face the group that was standing behind her. She didn't say a word, and she didn't have to. Instead she wrapped her arms tightly around her little sister, who suddenly seemed so much bigger than she ever remembered and buried her face into her shoulder. It only took a minute longer before Willow and Xander joined in on the hug, tears flowing freely from both of their faces. It wasn't until Giles whipped his glasses off and started to polish away, trying to conceal his own tears that Faith made a sound of disgust that led to the end of the hug almost as quickly as it had begun.

They latched arms, Buffy in the middle between Xander and Willow, much like they had for the past seven years, as they walked back to the bus and rounded the girls, with Dawn and Giles walking closely behind Willow and Faith shuffling her feet several yards behind Xander. Buffy knew that there was a lot that needed to be done… so much that these young girls would need to learn about their new powers. She also knew they were going to need some time to grieve. They had lost many in the battle, including several of their very own close group. As she watched the girls load on the bus under Willow's direction, she pushed back that sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach, and looked back at the crater that used to be her home one last time. They had done it. They had won… the Hellmouth was closed for business once and for all. At least this one was.

"You comin' B?" Faith's raspy voice asked from the steps of the bus, jumping Buffy out of her thoughts and back to reality. She turned her head quickly to look at her sister slayer and couldn't help but smile fully. For the first time in what seemed like years, Faith smiled back at Buffy, her dimples on full display and something about the way she smiled gave Buffy the hope that she needed just then.

"You sure you're alright?" Faith asked, once again pulling Buffy out of her thoughts and back to the task at hand. Buffy didn't say a word, she merely smiled once more and followed Faith up the steps of the bus and heard as the door closed behind her. Giles was carefully seated behind the wheel and he smiled slightly and nodded her direction as he turned the keys in the ignition and the bus came back to life. They didn't need to discuss where they would go, because they both knew that there was only one place they could go that they could get what they needed. Buffy knew it would take a good amount of time to get there and as she made her way to the back of the bus, following Faith and passing the new slayers on the way, she let the exhaustion take over her body.

She plopped down in an empty seat, the second to last on the bus and watched as Faith practically collapsed on the one opposite her. Dawn was sitting closely with Xander and Buffy watched as Dawn did her best to console him as his grief took over. Willow was moving up and down the aisle, checking on the injured and taking count while Kennedy chatted quietly with Vi and Rona in the seats in the middle of the bus. Buffy noticed Andrew staring out the window at the front, close to Giles, looking not quite relieved, but more confused than anything else.

She tried to close her eyes and let sleep come, but it didn't. Her mind kept racing with a thousand thoughts. Thoughts of those that they had lost… Anya, Wood, Spike and countless girls whose names Buffy would never know. Thoughts of the future… of a chance to live a semi normal life where she wasn't the only one with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Thoughts of the past seven years scurried through her mind and finally carried her into slumber land.

When she awoke the bus wasn't moving. She was startled at first, but immediately noticed she was the sole person left on the bus. She wanted to panic, but when she heard the voices of the others just outside the window on her right, she managed to relax and stretch a bit, their conversation filtering in through the slightly open window.

"Do you think she's going to be okay? She hasn't said anything since we got on the bus," Willow asked.

"I do believe she will be fine, though she does appear to have quite the stab wound on her abdomen. She probably needs some medical attention just to be safe, but with her slayer healing, she shall be fine in no time," Giles said as he reached his hand out and placed it calmingly on Dawn's shoulder as she stood next to him.

"So what's the plan G? We headed to see Angel or what?" Faith asked.

"That is the best option," Willow responded for Giles. "He probably is expecting us."

"What if he thinks we didn't make it?" Dawn asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Angel would never doubt B… no way," Faith responded quickly and confidently.

"I agree… I don't like the guy but he knows Buffy and she always wins," Xander said, trying to sound as chipper as possible despite his grief over losing the woman he loved just an hour earlier.

"What do you think is going to happen now?" Dawn asked no one in particular.

"I imagine that with all the new slayers that Buffy will gladly welcome the break she has long deserved," Giles responded carefully and quietly.

There was silence amongst the group then and Buffy took the pause in conversation to stand and make her way to the front of the bus. Just as she did, the new slayers made their way back on and Buffy quickly sat in the first seat to avoid being run over. She remembered what it felt like when she first got her power and she couldn't help but be excited for them. As the last of the slayers got onto the bus, chatting and chomping away on food they had bought from the gas station the bus was stopped at, Buffy made her way down the steps and to her group that were all standing in the line against the bus, using it to hold their tired bodies upright.

She walked up to them with a purpose, with meaning. She knew what she needed to do, and she needed them all to know exactly what she had in mind. She needed them to know just how much she truly needed them.

"Hey Buffy… get a good nap in?" Dawn asked as she saw her sister approach. She could tell that Buffy had something on her mind, and it was a welcomed distraction to her own problem she was dealing with at the moment. A problem that she wasn't quite sure was a problem, but one that she was hesitant to discuss either way.

Buffy nodded in response and Faith pulled a cigarette from her pocket and lit it with the last match she had, a puff of smoke filling the air around them as Buffy finally reached them all. Buffy watched as Faith plopped down in the dirt at the end of the line, settling with her back resting against the back tire of the yellow school bus that had helped them escape. Buffy moved so she was facing them, so she could see them all but still close enough for them to see the look in her eyes.

"You sure you okay Buffy?" Willow asked worried. Buffy's smile grew in size as she nodded. She took a deep breath and could see the look of anticipation on the faces of everyone just before she spoke for the first time since they had defeated the First.

"I know you are all wondering what happens now. It's no secret that I have always dreamed of having a semi normal life. And here it is, my chance to have exactly what I wanted all those years. I could sit out of the fight from this point on… there are plenty of slayers here to pick up the slack. I could retire, I could live a life where I work nine to five and am a member of the PTA. But the truth is, up until now I never realized how impossible that would really be. This is my fight… I am a slayer. It was what I was chosen for and there is no way I could ever walk away from this… not now, not after everything we've been through… not after everything I have seen. So I can't tell you what you are going to do, but I can tell you what I am going to do and if you want to keep fighting just like I do, I want you with me."

"So you gonna tell us what this master plan is B or do we have to get Red here to read your mind?" Faith asked as she blew out a puff of smoke up into the air, right into Xander's face, causing him to cough a little and Willow to pat him on the back fiercely.

"We are going to do what we always do. We are going to fight. We are going to train these girls and we are going to teach them what is means to be a real slayer. Sure, they fought in this battle, but they have no idea what it means to live this life day to day. They need guidance, direction, support. So that's what we are going to do. We are going to build an army, but this time we are going to do it the right way."

"Buffy… I… I…" Willow began to speak but Buffy held her hand up in objection.

"Will, before you say anything, I need to finish. I know you are tired. I know it has been long fight… a long road to get to this place. I don't say this very often, but I need you all to know, that no matter what you decide, you will always be my family, all of you."

She turned slightly then, leaning most of her weight on her left foot and her eyes met Giles who stood at the far left of the line, closest to the door of the bus.

"Father," she said strongly as she looked him directly in the eyes. She could see the smile that formed on his lips and the tears that started to form at the corners of his eyes behind his dirty lenses. "No matter what has happened or what will happen, you will always be more than my Watcher. You are the father I've never had and I don't know where I would be without you. Your guidance has gotten me here."

His smile grew larger and he carefully took his glasses off and began to wipe them with the edge of his tattered and bloody shirt.

"There is no father that could ever be more proud of his daughter… and I am with you," Giles stated firmly. He stepped forward slightly, a little unsure of himself, but Buffy met him in the middle and latched her arms around him tightly in a hug. It was brief, but it was still a hug and Buffy knew just how rare that was coming from Giles.

She nodded at him, trying to keep her excitement at bay as the hug ended. She didn't skip a beat as she shifted her weight a little bit and looked at her baby sister, who stood a good few inches taller than her, her long hair blowing in the wind.

"Daughter." Dawn looked at her puzzled, but it faded quickly as Buffy continued. "I know that you are my sister, but I love you like you are my child. You are a part of me, more than anyone. You and I are blood, and you are the only blood I have left. You are a part of me and I hope you know by now, I would die to protect you. I promised you once to show you this beautiful world, and I will… along the way while I continue to do the work I was born to do."

Dawn wanted to speak but before she had a chance Buffy had lunged forward with slayer speed and pulled the younger Summers into a hug. Dawn embraced her, and closed her eyes briefly as she wrapped her arms around her sister. The moment ended quickly, still not giving Dawn a chance to respond, as Buffy pulled back and moved on to the next person in the group.

"Sister," she said, watching as Willow's eyes filled with tears and a few broke loose and fell down her cheeks. "You are the one that I know I can confide in about anything. You keep me grounded and in check and are far more powerful than you will ever know. I know that without you, standing here would have never been possible. I may have fought the fight, but you made it all possible." Buffy finished, wanting desperately to reach out and pull her best friend to her and hug all her tears away, but at the same time not wanting to hurry the moment along.

Willow regained her composure and wiped the last of the tears on her cheeks away with the back of her hand that was still weak and pale from being drained by the magic. She sucked in a breath and looked Buffy straight in the eyes while she responded.

"There is no where in the world I would rather be than with you, fighting this fight," she said with a shaky voice, but a voice that Buffy knew had meaning. It was Willow who then lurched forward, with speed faster than Buffy knew was possible for someone without slayer abilities, and pulled her into a tight hug. Buffy hugged her back, but knew that she had to continue before she let her emotions get the better of her.

She reached Xander finally, taking the opportunity to get a good look at him. She looked deeply in his eye, reading all the fear, pain and anger that was built up, and took another long breath before speaking directly to him.

"Brother," she said firmly. "You are my heart Xander, and I couldn't have made it this far without you. You are my strength and my determination to keep going, no matter how hard it gets."

His chest puffed up a little bit and he shifted on his feet. He felt a hand snake around his shoulders and could tell by the calming touch that it was Dawn's. He didn't hesitate, even though he was almost positive that he would when it came time, and finally spoke, the last of the Scoobies to respond.

"Where you go, I will always follow," he said proudly and felt as Dawn's grip tightened around him. Buffy didn't hesitate… she took that last step forward and pulled him tightly to her, his larger body practically covering her small frame. They hugged tightly, and Xander could feel that the hug was more than a response to his words. It was a hug of sorrow and worry, and a part of him felt just a little less alone knowing that Buffy understood the pain that had taken up residence in his gut since he realized Anya had not made it out of that school.

Their hug was longer than the rest, but it came to an end, just like the others before had. Buffy knew that she had to address the last person in line and she also knew that the others were waiting on pins and needles to see just what she was going to say. But before any further words could be said, commotion came from the bus most of them had their backs resting on. The group glanced up at the windows and noticed the bus slightly rocking, as a small fight broke out inside. It took only a few seconds before Kennedy poked her head out of the doorway.

"Someone wanna get in here and help me calm the crazies down?" she asked obviously irritated and frustrated by the immature way in which the girls were acting. It was clear that she was different from the others… even to Buffy who didn't want to exactly admit that out loud.

Giles cleared his throat and headed toward the bus, but Dawn held her hand up to Giles and motioned for him to stay where he was.

"I'll go, see if I can't get them to settle down," Dawn said as she moved toward the door, sounding twice her age. Buffy watched as Dawn walked up the steps and disappeared inside the bus and she heard as the chatter died down inside. She then turned back to the remaining group and caught Willow's eyes. Willow could see nothing but determination behind the green eyes that met hers. She knew then that whatever Buffy had planned, was going to be heroic.

When the moment was over, Buffy sighed slightly and turned to Faith, who was still on the ground smoking a cigarette and using her index finger to draw small pictures in the dirt in front of her. Buffy looked down at her, searching for the right words, wanting to say the right thing since so often when it came to Faith, nothing turned out the way she wanted it to.

Buffy knew things were different now. She knew it from the moment Faith arrived back in Sunnydale with Willow to help them in the battle. She could see it in the way she walked, and in the clothes she wore, no longer decked out in black leather and skimpy outfits. She could tell by the way Faith spoke that she had grown in age and as a person and even though Buffy hadn't wanted to admit it for a long time, she was relieved to see her. Buffy couldn't help but stare at her, as she sat there on the ground, not even looking or paying the slightest bit of attention to what Buffy was saying. I guess some things never do change.

"Get up," Buffy commanded to Faith. Her dark brown eyes flicked up to meet Buffy's green and that signature smirk appeared across her face.

"Thought we were reserving all the mushy shit for the Scoobies," Faith said, still not moving from her seated position on the ground.

"Get up," Buffy stated once again, showing just by the sound of her voice that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. Faith just continued to smirk at her for a few seconds, before she took one last drag of her cigarette, blowing the smoke out and flicking the filter yards away. She stood then, leaning her back against the bus, fully aware that all eyes were on her at the moment. She was sure the others were waiting for a fight to break out between the two chosen slayers, but what they didn't know was that Faith was done fighting… and so was Buffy.

"My turn now? Bet you are just dying to say lover, aren't cha B?" Faith asked in her raspy voice that Buffy had always found so unique. She was a little surprised that Faith had been listening previously, but Buffy didn't skip a beat in responding, knowing that no matter how many things they managed to work out between them, banter and bickering was always going to be a part of their communication. Another thing that would probably never change.

"You could only wish."

"Oh, come on now B… lover sounds good to me. No? Alright, what else ya got for me?" Faith asked keeping up the show as the others stood silent still waiting for the violence they were sure was going to come.

Buffy let a smile form across her lips again, as she felt a strong wave of confidence surge through her.

"Soul mate," Buffy said, causing everyone to stop any and all movement. Buffy let the others fade out of her mind. She focused solely on Faith and speaking with her.

"What did you just say to me?" Faith asked, taking a small step forward toward Buffy. Buffy didn't say anything and the lack of response caused Faith to take a step back again. "What the hell does that mean B?"

"Look Faith, we have so much hatred in our past… there are so many wrongs we need to make right, so many mistakes that we both made. But I am sick of dwelling on the past. I want us to be close, like we were before everything went wrong… before all the mistakes and the anger and the pain. I want you to have a spot in our family, a spot you should have always had… a spot I should have opened for you instead of pushing you away."

Silence filled the air. It was as though everyone decided to hold their breath all at once and waited for what was going to happen. For the first time in Buffy's life she swore Faith was nervous. You could see it in her eyes and the way she was fidgeting just slightly with the hem of her shirt.

"B… I think you lost more blood than we all thought, or maybe I hit my head and I just don't remember… because this… " Faith rushed out and quickly moved to step around Buffy and head toward the bus. But Buffy wasn't going to let her get away that easily. She had more to say and she wasn't going to keep it in anymore.

"Shut up Faith. Just shut up. You can't deny it… and I don't want to anymore. We have a connection… we always have and I know you feel it too. Here we are now, with hundreds, possibly thousands of slayers out there in the world and I still only feel you. So I need you by my side… for so many different reasons. Because you are the only other person who knows what it is like to have this power, the only other one that has the knowledge I need to help me train and guide these girls so they can be the best slayers they can be. You are the other half of me… you complete me in the way that no one else could ever understand. So I need you here for a million different reasons… but most of all, I want you with me because _I_ need you… I need you for _me_."

The silence crept up on them again and as if they were the only two people left in the world, standing facing one another. Faith's brown eyes stared deeply into Buffy's green. Buffy could see the fear in Faith's, and it was the first time she had ever seen something like that in her sister slayer. Faith for her part searched first and foremost to see if Buffy's eyes were dilated. She was sure that for words like this to be coming from Buffy's mouth, she must have a concussion. But all she found behind them was honesty and love. It scared her for a minute, but after that it began to comfort her and she realized that this was the moment she had dreamed of for what seemed like forever. She had always felt like an outsider in Buffy's world, and this was her chance to be a part of it.

"So you wanna be friends B? No more with the fighting and the arguing? Just working together and kicking ass like the early days?" Faith asked with a smile.

"So what do you say?" Buffy asked.

"I think I'd like that B," Faith said, and the words released a small smile from Buffy's lips.

She was happy that Faith had decided to come with them, with her. Faith watched Buffy's smile grow and she promptly stuck her hand out in front of her, offering it to Buffy. Buffy did nothing for a brief moment, just looked down at Faith's hand and then flicked her eyes back up to meet Faith's. Buffy made a decision quickly, and put her right hand in Faith's. However, she didn't shake it as Faith expected her to. She used her grasp on Faith's hand to pull her into a hug.

It was awkward at first, with Buffy's left arm strongly wrapped around Faith's upper body and Faith just standing there rigid and stiff. The others that were still standing there couldn't believe what was happening, much less the words that had just been exchanged between the two chosen slayers. But they were all glad to know that the fighting had come to an end… at least they hoped it had.

It took a moment before Faith relaxed into the hug, and wrapped her left arm around the smaller blonde slayer in front of her.

"Oh no! Are we all going to die?" Andrew's high pitched voice rang out from the bus steps, causing the hug between the two to abruptly come to a halt for all eyes to look over at him. No one answered him… they all just looked at him wondering just how it was he had managed to survive the battle… and more so, just what they were going to do with him now.

"Andrew just get back on the bus with the rest of the girls," Xander said causing Faith to chuckle a little at the joke.

"But something awful must be happening and I demand to know what it is," he said trying to sound more stern than he really was, and stomping his way over to the group.

"Why may I ask do you think something awful is happening?" Giles questioned, trying to be the reasonable one.

"Oh don't give me that Mr. Giles. I saw what was going on out here. If the light slayer and the dark slayer are hugging, things must be pretty bad!" he exclaimed.

The group collectively broke out into laughter. Giles smiled at the young man in front of him and put his hand on his shoulder, leading him back to the entrance of the bus. Willow moved then and wrapped her arm around Xander and he did the same, and they followed Giles and Andrew back onto the bus.

Buffy and Faith locked eyes before moving. There was understanding between them now. So many years to make up for. Both of them knew that it wouldn't be as easy as moving forward… that they would have a lot that needed to be talked about for their friendship to work.

"You ready to get out of here?" Faith asked, breaking the silence between them.

"So ready," Buffy replied.

They shared one last smile between each other before turning and walking side by side back to the bus.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

They made their way back onto the bus, with Xander taking a seat behind the wheel. Buffy let out a sigh of relief upon seeing him start the engine of the bus, knowing that with him driving they would make much better time to L.A.

She made her way down the aisle and headed toward the back of the bus, with Faith moving quickly in front of her. She watched as Faith made it to the last seat and just like before, plopped her entire body down the length of the seat, closing her eyes instantly. The girls watched as their fearless leader slowly made her way passed them. No one said a word… except for one.

"So Buffy, if Willow's your sister… does that make me your sister in-law or something?" she asked with a chuckle, causing a few giggles to come out of the mouths of the other girls as well. Willow lightly and playfully slapped Kennedy on the shoulder from where she was seated next to her.

"Were you eavesdropping?" Willow asked in a high pitched tone.

"No!"

Willow turned to face her girlfriend and Buffy could only smile at the face she made. It was that typical Willow resolve face. The one that no matter what you did, you couldn't fight.

"Okay so maybe we were listening in! Come on!" Kennedy urged, looking from Willow back to Buffy.

Buffy for her part didn't say anything, she just smiled back at Kennedy and continued to make her way down the aisle listening to Willow and Kennedy playfully bicker, until she reached where Dawn was sitting, and plopped her tired body down next to her little sister.

She surveyed the bus and looked at the girls… some resting with their eyes closed now, others talking quietly amongst themselves. She remembered the head count that Willow had given her. There were 14 new slayers that had survived. Only a little under half had survived. The guilt rose in the pit of her stomach as she remembered the faces of some of them as they hit the ground… their lifeless eyes staring back at her. She shook her head a little, trying to free the negative thoughts from her mind and in doing so, she caught a glimpse of Faith, fast asleep in the last seat on the bus. She then turned her head so she could look at Dawn who was still quietly looking out the window.

Dawn hadn't said a word since Buffy had sat down next to her on the bus. She deliberately was avoiding eye contact with her, in hopes that Buffy wouldn't see what was being hidden behind Dawn's eyes. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to Buffy, it was more that she didn't know how Buffy was going to react. And the last thing she wanted right now was an angry Buffy, especially if they were on a bus with no where else to go.

Dawn had decided right away that she would just wait until they got where they were going before she said anything. She even considered talking to Willow first. But it was that very thought that was crossing her mind when Buffy had said all those amazing things about her outside when they were stopped. The words her older sister had spoken to her were beyond the nicest words she had ever heard from Buffy… and they made her feel guilty… guilty that she would ever consider confiding in Willow before her very own sister.

So she decided right then and there that she would just avoid Buffy until they got to L.A., where she would have time to think of the best way to explain things to her… and have somewhere to run to if, or better yet, when, Buffy freaked out on her. What she hadn't counted on was Buffy sitting next to her. She was sure that Buffy would fall back to sleep in a seat by herself, or even sit and talk with Giles about what she had planned for the new slayers.

"You alright Dawnie?" Buffy asked, causing Dawn to jerk her head and hit it loudly against the glass window she had been staring out of before. She held her hand to her head and grimaced slightly, before turning to Buffy.

"I'm fine," she said quickly, focusing her attention anywhere but at Buffy's eyes.

"You don't seem fine," Buffy replied. She could tell immediately that Dawn was doing her best to avoid her gaze. And despite Buffy having not been the best sister/mother role model of the century, she knew when Dawn had something she was trying to hide.

"Just tired," Dawn replied again, turning to look back out the window and resting her head against the glass carefully this time. Buffy frowned as she studied Dawn in the seat next to her. She considered for a moment that Dawn was just upset over those that they had lost in the battle, or even that she was worried for Xander or all of them and what was going to happen next. But something inside of Buffy told her it was more than that, and no matter how long she looked at the side of Dawn's head, she couldn't shake that feeling.

"Liar," Buffy said after a couple of minutes. Dawn could feel Buffy's eyes looking at her the entire time she was staring out the window and she tried her best to put on a smile and face her sister.

"I promise Buffy, I am fine," Dawn said, the last word coming out sounding a little more strained than she would have liked.

"Sure, if you define fine as hiding something from me." Dawn just looked down at her hands then and she held them together tightly, knowing that she was not going to be able to get out of this conversation and wait to talk to Buffy until she got to L.A. like she had wanted to. "So spill it Dawnie… what's up?"

"Okay, but before I do you have to promise me that you will sit there quietly and listen… that you will hear me out before you freak out on me," Dawn said as she turned so she could look at her sister a little better on the seat next to her.

"Like I ever freak out on you!" Buffy replied.

"Buffy! You have got to be kidding me!"

"Okay, okay… fine. I will hear you out. So you better tell me what is going on and I would just like to say that if you are pregnant, I take back the promise that I just made," Buffy said very sternly and with the most serious face she could muster.

"Well, I was going to wait to tell you but since you guessed..." Buffy's eyes practically bugged out of her head as Dawn said the words and Dawn could see the steam start to come out of her ears. She realized just a split second before Buffy lost it all together, that Buffy had actually believed her. She smiled and laughed out loud. "I'm just kidding Buffy… relax will ya?"

Buffy bit her tongue and reclined in her seat a little bit. That was the last thing she needed… to find out Dawn had been getting down and dirty with someone before the battle. The thought actually made Buffy want to throw up, so she chose to quickly speak so the thought would vanish from her mind.

"Now that you have officially freaked me out… Dawn what's really going on?" Buffy asked as sincerely as she could. Dawn took a deep breath and held it for what seemed like a century before she finally spoke.

"Okay… well… I think that when Willow did that spell… you know, the one with the scythe? I felt something… I mean in the school… when we were fighting… something happened," Dawn tried to spit the words out but they just wouldn't come.

"Did you get hurt? Are you alright?" Buffy asked suddenly very concerned for Dawn. Dawn held her hand up before Buffy could touch her and shook her head.

"No Buffy, I didn't get hurt."

"So what then… you felt something… what do you mean Dawnie?" Buffy asked now growing more and more worried by the second and still completely unaware of what Dawn was getting at.

"I felt a surge of power rush through me… and all of a sudden… I felt strong. I think… Buffy… I think I'm a slayer now too."

There was a long dramatic pause between the two sisters. They had their eyes locked on one another and Dawn's breathing had become more and more erratic as she let out the words she had been so afraid to say. She knew exactly what Buffy was going to say… this wasn't the life her big sister had envisioned for her. She had always wanted a normal life for Dawn… one that she herself could never have. Dawn had watched Buffy all these years struggle with her calling… with the life that was chosen for her. Buffy for her part, was trying to process, but despite giving a lot of effort, the words just lingered there in her mind, not making much sense at all.

"I'm sorry, I thought I just heard you say you are a slayer now," Buffy said after about a minute passed.

"I did say that Buffy."

More silence. More trying to process. This was not the life that Buffy wanted for Dawn. She wanted her to finish high school, go to college, travel and see the world. Date, get married, have babies, do all those things that Buffy would never have the opportunity to do because she was chosen to be a slayer. She had given up on the idea that she could live a normal life, but that didn't mean that she had given up on that idea for Dawn. She wanted everything for her sister and being a slayer was not in Buffy's life plan for Dawn.

"Buffy? Are you okay? You are turning kind of red," Dawn asked. She had waited as long as she could before she asked the question, but the silence was driving her insane. Buffy let out a breath then, one she had obviously been holding in and the red dissipated from her face.

"Are you sure Dawnie? I mean, maybe you were just all pumped up from the fight and everything… maybe it was… oh what is that chemical your body produces?" Buffy questioned, trying to make her explanation make sense.

"Adrenaline?" Dawn answered for her.

"Yes! That's it! Maybe it was just adrenaline from the fight," Buffy tried to reason.

"I can still feel it Buffy… the power… I can feel all the other slayers on this bus and the ones that are out there in the world. It wasn't just adrenaline Buffy… it was something more."

"But how is that even possible? When Willow did that spell it would have led us to you, showing us you were a potential slayer… it didn't," Buffy said turning more to her sister.

"I don't know Buffy," Dawn said softly. "I really don't know why… but I know I feel it."

"How could this happen?" Buffy asked, putting her hands through her hair and questioning no one in particular.

"You said it yourself Buffy… I am made from you. The monks made me from your blood, your essence. It makes sense if you think about it. So now that I'm a slayer… I was thinking…" Buffy covered her face with her hands and rubbed her temples slightly before cutting Dawn off.

"Don't you understand Dawnie? I wanted more for you. I wanted everything for you! More than a life that was consumed by demons and vampires. You have no idea what it is like to live this life day in and day out! A slayer's life is short… and it's brutal… and you deserve more than that!"

"But what about what I want Buffy?" Dawn asked in a raised voice.

"You can't be serious Dawn! You have no idea of the sacrifices you will make… the pain and suffering you will go through! I want more than that for you," Buffy said. Dawn sucked in a breath and turned to look back out the window. She felt as Buffy put her hand on her shoulder.

"But that's just it Buffy… you want more than that for me. You have my whole life planned out for me. Me, I like being a part of this world. When I was younger that's all I ever wanted was the be a part of the group… be helpful… be one of the Scoobies. But now here is my chance, to be a part of this for real… and I want to take it." Dawn turned back to face her sister then.

"Dawnie…"

"No Buffy! You think I don't know what it's like to suffer? I may have not suffered from being a slayer but I've had my fair share. I watched you jump to your death to save my life… to save the world. I sat in a dark room with the dead body of one of my closest friends who had been gunned down for no reason! Mom died Buffy! Mom died! And if being a slayer means that I can help just one person… just one person not go through the pain of losing a loved one… then it will be more than worth it to me."

Buffy let the words sink in. She used the time to stare directly into Dawn's eyes and watched as images flooded her mind. Images of Dawn following them all around, doing everything and anything she could to be a part of their group. The early days where she always seemed to be around but Buffy always managed to push her to the side. Images of the past few months… watching from afar as Dawn sat going through book after book looking for information that might help with the upcoming battle. The memories hit her all at once. Memories that weren't all real, but still memories that Buffy had of the young woman in front of her.

"Are you sure Dawnie? You sure you really want to do this? Train with the rest of the girls, be a slayer?" Buffy asked, her voice barely over a whisper. Dawn's eyes grew bigger at the question.

"Positive," she replied back. "I mean I want to train and I will train with the other girls… but I want to train with you Buffy. I want to do this and I want you to be the one to teach me," Dawn said and watched as tears formed involuntarily in her big sisters eyes.

"You… you want me to train you? You mean like just the two of us? On top of the other training?"

"Yes… be your apprentice of sorts," Dawn explained. "What do you think?" Dawn expected a long dramatic pause, the kind that Buffy was so good at. She expected to be sitting there on pins and needles waiting for a response. But it didn't take more than a couple of seconds before those tears that had formed in Buffy's eyes slowly dripped down her cheeks and she pulled Dawn close to her in a tight hug.

"I would be honored… and I'm so proud of you," Buffy said into Dawn's shoulder and Dawn relaxed then into the hug. She closed her eyes and hugged Buffy back, sure that there was no way she was going to be able to stop her own tears.

The hug went on for what seemed like forever, each of them clinging onto to one another as though they had finally found each other after years of searching. And in a way it was like that for them both. They finally had a common ground between them. They had always seemed so different, which led to countless fights and bickering as sisters do. But now they were both slayers. They really were the same after all.

"You really are strong," Buffy said with a little giggle into Dawn's ear after several minutes of hugging. Dawn laughed back and they separated, pulling back to look at one another.

"Everything alright you guys?" Willow asked as she kneeled down in the aisle looking at both the Summers women. She noticed the sisters having a conversation, hearing voices being raised and then soften again, and saw Buffy's expressions change from worry, to anger, to fear, to happiness and then to pride all in a matter of minutes. When tears followed, Willow knew she needed to check on them.

"Everything is perfect actually," Buffy said, still looking at Dawn.

"Oh okay, good. Now Buffy, I was thinking about the rooming situation for when we get to L.A…. and we have 14 new slayers…" Willow began.

"Actually, we have 15," Buffy interrupted as her eyes met her best friends.

"15? I did the count twice Buffy and I'm really good at math which wasn't your strongest subject…"

Buffy frowned at Willow's words. Dawn burst out laughing and Willow for her part just sat there trying to figure out what to say.

"Hey! No making fun of my educational skills!"

"I didn't mean it like that, I really didn't!" Willow exclaimed. Buffy's frown turned into a smile and it relaxed Willow.

"I know you were joking Will. But I wasn't wrong about the count either… Dawn is a slayer too."

It took a minute before the reaction came, but when it did come from Willow's mouth, there was no way that anyone on the bus didn't hear it. It was a high pitched tone, one that Buffy had never actually heard before and she didn't know whether to consider it a squeal or a squeak.

News of Dawn's new slayer ability traveled through the bus in a matter of seconds, reaching everyone, who made their way closer to Buffy and Dawn's seat to say their congratulations. Buffy stood as the crowd gathered and caught eyes with Faith, who had been awoken from all the commotion and was seated with her back against the window and legs stretched out across the bus seat.

As Buffy made her way to the back of the bus to sit by Faith, she passed Giles who was muttering under his breath while headed back to his seat.

"Oh just what I needed… another bloody Buffy to train… it will be just like old times," he said under his breath.

"Hey!" Buffy said as she heard him muttering and he looked up at her in passing.

"Of course it will be enormous amounts of fun… really, it's splendid," he responded.

"Come on Giles… you know I'm your favorite slayer," Buffy said with a grin. Giles responded with a bright smile of his own… glad to see Buffy in such good spirits. They said nothing more to one another and Giles headed back to the front of the bus and Buffy made her way to the back.

"So, little sis is one of us now huh? How's that make you feel B?" Faith questioned. She knew that one year ago Buffy would have been pissed to find out her baby sister was going to be a slayer, and she wasn't quite sure if the way Buffy was acting now was a show, or if she really was happy for Dawn.

"It isn't what I imagined for her that's for sure," Buffy replied as she made her way to the seat Faith was in, Faith moving her feet for Buffy to have a seat.

"It ain't that bad B. Besides… she ain't the only one this time around. Maybe she can have a semi normal life like you always hoped she would," Faith said.

"I know, but she's my sister, and I guess I just worry that's all," Buffy said, looking down at her hands.

"Nothin' to worry about B… you said it yourself, she's made from you."

"What does that mean?" Buffy asked. Her tone wasn't mean, more inquisitive. She was still surprised that Faith had been listening to her when she was talking to the others earlier.

"She's made from the best slayer to ever live… she's bound to be a natural," Faith responded, not even thinking about the words before they came out of her mouth and just saying exactly what she had wanted to say. It felt good to be able to be honest with Buffy, and Faith was just hoping that things would continue to be this easy between them.

Buffy for her part was surprised by the words Faith had spoken. She had always thought that Faith was a little envious of how people always referred to Buffy as the greatest slayer. But she had said the words with such truth behind them… such meaning. Buffy couldn't help but smile at Faith and the compliment.

They sat in silence then, side by side, both of them just looking out the window as the dirt and dust rolled by. Each of them lost in their own thoughts… their own worries about what the future would hold. Buffy looked away from the window again, and noticed as Xander glanced at her from the rearview mirror before quickly jerking his eye back to the road when he saw she noticed.

Buffy stood from her seat then, telling Faith she would be back, and headed up the aisle of the moving bus. Everyone had moved to the middle, closer to Dawn so they could be in on the conversation. Dawn and Kennedy were sitting side by side with one another, doing most of the talking. Buffy got to the front of the bus, kneeling down next to Xander as he drove. He never took his eye off the road.

"You knew didn't you?" she asked him despite already knowing the answer. "Why didn't you say anything?"

He looked at her then, just for a brief second before flicking his attention back to the empty road ahead of him.

"Didn't think it was my place Buff… plus, I wasn't sure. It's not like when it happened a big shiny light hit her or sprinkled sparkly slayer dust on her head. But yeah, I kind of thought," he explained.

Buffy took his explanation and didn't say another word about it. Instead, she did her best to soften her tone before saying something else to him.

"I'm sorry," was all she was able to say, but he knew exactly what she meant.

"Don't be. It isn't your fault."

"Are you going to be alright?" Buffy asked. At the moment Xander didn't know the answer to the question she presented to him. He knew that the worst was yet to come. He had done everything since they got on the bus to avoid thinking about Anya's death and tried to instead be useful.

When he didn't respond, Buffy reached out and slowly put her hand on his shoulder. He flinched a little at the touch, but didn't turn to face her, still keeping his focus on the road.

"I'm here if you need to talk or anything," she said quietly. He smiled at her words, but instead of responding to them, chose to change the subject. He knew eventually he would want to talk, but he still wasn't ready right now.

"So… you and Faith huh? How's that going?"

"We've been on this bus for over an hour now and haven't killed each other… that's got to mean something right?" she replied in question to him. His chuckle made her smile. He still had his sense of humor at least.

"You think that she'll stick around?"

"I do… I don't know, there is just something… different about her this time around."

"She has changed a lot from the wild Faith we knew when we were teenagers. But we all have changed I guess right?" Xander asked.

"I guess we have," Buffy responded, a little more quietly than she had been speaking before. She stood up then, giving him one more squeeze on his shoulder before making her way back down the aisle to the back of the bus where she could see Faith was still sitting looking out the window.

As she passed she heard the conversations going on around her. Most of the new slayers were back in their own seats, quietly talking to the person sitting next to them. Kennedy was still sitting next to Dawn, and they were laughing and joking with one another, as if they had been friends for years. Buffy heard Willow and Giles discussing plans for their arrival in L.A. She considered sitting down with them and giving them a further detailed description of just what she had in mind. But instead she just offered them a smile before passing them and making her way back to where Faith was seated.

"Hey," she said as she sat back down next to Faith.

"What a day huh? Big battle, big news with Dawn…" Faith started only to be interrupted by her stomach making a loud growling noise that would have scared a bear.

"Jeez Faith!"

"What? You know that slaying makes me hungry and horny!" Faith responded as she raised her eyebrows suggestively at the blonde next to her.

"Still going on about that huh?" Buffy replied.

"Still denying it B?"

"I never denied it, I just don't talk about it so much," Buffy said quietly. Faith turned then, so her body was facing Buffy more and she could look directly at her.

"I always thought all you needed was a non-fat yogurt to satisfy you after a good fight," Faith smirked. Buffy looked at Faith then, their eyes catching. There was a twinkle in Faith's eyes, one that Buffy hadn't seen in a long time. The last time they had been able to have a conversation like this felt like a lifetime ago. They were both such different people.

"Things change," was all Buffy replied and she wiggled her eyebrows in return. Faith looked stunned for a second, but she recovered quickly and let out a chuckle.

"Yeah… I guess they do."

They sat then in comfortable silence. Again, it was something that Buffy hadn't had with Faith since… well… ever. But in this moment she was completely content sitting next to the brunette as the bus rolled on. She let her eyes close as the sounds of chatter from the girls died out and sleep took over once more.

When she woke, it was with a jolt. She realized pretty quickly that her head was resting on Faith's who was also asleep and that Faith had somehow during their nap managed to get a arm wrapped around the blonde, almost in a protective manner. Buffy sat up carefully, as not to wake Faith and stretched out her tired body. She could tell that she had been sleeping for a good amount of time, as the pain from her wound in her abdomen was gone and there was nothing much more to show than a deep scratch on the surface of her skin. She looked outside and noticed the dark sky, before making her way up the aisle to where Giles was sitting at the front of the bus.

Kennedy was now behind the wheel and Willow moved over so Buffy could occupy the seat across from Giles.

"We should be there soon," Willow said as she looked out the window. Buffy followed and looked once more, suddenly with a feeling of worry washing over her. She looked back just in time to see Faith coming up the aisle and the dark slayer stopped in the aisle just between Giles and Buffy.

"You see that out there?" she asked, pointing out the window. The sky was dark and cloudy and just as they were focusing outside, they felt as the bus came to a stop in the dead center of a roadway.

"What the fuck is going on?" Kennedy asked from behind the wheel. Buffy and Faith looked at each other quickly, and Faith was to the door with Buffy hot on her heels. The Chosen Two charged out the door and down the steps, standing on the pavement side by side.

The streets of L.A. were filled with chaos. Fires burned in every direction and the sounds of people screaming could be heard loudly. They both looked up into the sky one last time, just in time to see a dragon tear through the blackness as it let out a high pitched sound of fury.

They turned so their eyes met once again, both with the same thought on their mind which they expressed at the exact same time.

"Angel!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Faith was the first one to turn and get back on the bus and Buffy didn't hesitate as she jumped up the steps right behind her.

"Something's up… we need to find Angel and his crew," Faith said quickly to Giles. His face turned into a frown as he looked out the window, seeing the chaos that surrounded them all.

"Where do we find them?" Kennedy asked, closing the doors and looking ready to start moving once more.

"Let me drive… I know my way around L.A.," Faith said in a hurry. Kennedy didn't argue and she got up and took a seat next to Willow. Buffy turned to Faith and watched as she pressed her foot on the gas pedal, lurking the bus forward quickly.

"What the hell is going on?" Rona asked from her seat as everyone noticed the speed the bus was travelling at. Buffy looked at Giles who gave her a reassuring nod before she turned her attention back to all the slayers sitting on the bus waiting for an answer.

"I know we told you we were headed to L.A. to regroup. But there has been a change of plans. Looks like we have another apocalypse on our hands," Buffy shouted loud enough for the entire bus to hear her. Despite the chatter that broke out among the girls, it was clear that all eyes were on her. No matter how many slayers existed… she would always be the leader. She was born to be the leader.

"Guess it's a good thing that I brought that emergency bag then," Willow said, standing from her seat and making her way to the very back of the bus. She emerged holding two large bags, that were so filled they could not be zipped. Buffy smiled at her best friend. Willow was always prepared and Buffy was grateful.

"Good… Ken?" Buffy turned to Kennedy then.

"Yeah?"

"You are in charge of distributing weapons… everyone gets something," Buffy stated. Kennedy didn't hesitate. She stood and made her way to the back of the bus with Willow and began to pull out the dozens of swords that were packed away in the bags. Buffy turned her attention back to the girls.

"Listen up girls. I know that most you don't consider me your favorite person in the world. I know I was hard on you back in Sunnydale. But now that it's over I want to tell you all how proud I am of you. You fought like heroes… like slayers. And I know you may still be tired but this is what the life of a slayer is. It is one battle after another... sometimes you don't get a break. And now is one of those times. So I want you to fight… with all you have. It's time to save the world… again."

Before anyone had a chance to say anything, Kennedy started making her way through the bus, passing out swords to the new slayers. She reached the front of the bus where Buffy and Xander were standing by Faith who was still behind the wheel. She handed them each a sword and stood her ground behind them.

"What do we do now?" Kennedy asked. Faith smiled and turned her head back a little bit so she could catch Buffy's eye.

"We save the world… again," Faith responded. 

* * *

><p>Angel stood in the pouring rain with his sword tightly in his hand. A very injured Gunn stood on shaky legs a few yards behind him with Illyria right by his side. Spike stood firmly next to Angel in the dark alley way as they all watched the demons and monsters make their way toward them.<p>

Just as words were about to be exchanged, three demon dogs came running up and lined up directly in front of the vampire and his crew, a few yards in front of them. The growl that they let out could be heard over the shouting and screaming in the distance and over the roar of the dragon that flew overhead. Angel bit his lip, bringing his sword up, reading to fight. But before he even moved, he watched as the three dogs suddenly perked up their ears and turned their heads behind them slightly.

Angel too heard the noise. He let his eyes move from the demon dogs in front of him, just in time to see a large school bus come pulling around the corner of the alleyway.

"_We are, we are the saints, we signed our life away! Doesn't matter what you think, we're gonna do it anyway! We are, we are the saints, one day you will confess! And pray to the saints of Los Angeles!_"

Angel heard the sound of singing from what seemed like several hundred people coming from the bus as it pulled up and ran directly into the three demon dogs that had been a threat just seconds before. His look softened as he saw the petite blonde woman step off the bus in front of him followed by a taller dark brunette.

He had never doubted Buffy… never before in his undead life. He knew that she would survive the battle against the First and that she would save the world in the process. He also knew that Faith would help make a difference in the battle and that even if Buffy didn't want to admit it, she needed Faith by her side for that fight. Now that they were standing there in front of him, he couldn't help but be relieved.

Buffy and Faith turned back to the bus as the new slayers and the rest of the Scoobies filtered out. Buffy and Faith were barking out orders to the girls and the others, while Kennedy was making sure everyone had received a weapon one last time.

"Andrew… come on!" Willow shouted into the bus where Andrew was standing near the back. He was shuffling through the emergency bag that Willow had brought. He grabbed some herbs and shoved them into his pocket, turning to head out of the bus. But before he could, something caught his eye.

"Better to be safe than sorry," Andrew said as he grabbed the cross bow that had gotten his attention off the ground. He then made his way out of the bus and took his place where he was ordered to by Buffy and Faith. Giles and Willow followed him to where Gunn was now resting against a large trash can and Willow was checking out his wounds.

Everyone else fell into their assigned places. Kennedy, Vi, Rona, Dawn and Xander stood closely to Illyria and waited for directions. Buffy finally turned to face Angel and when she did was when she saw him.

She went through a wave of emotions all at once upon seeing him. She had never really dealt with her emotions about losing him, so seeing Spike standing there in front of her was almost too much for her to process in the middle of an apocalypse. Her look said it all, and she couldn't even bring herself to say anything, let alone move her eyes from the bleach blonde vampire that had been dead just hours before and was now standing in front of her.

Spike took a step forward and smiled at the woman he loved.

"It's a long story love," he said before she could say anything. He saw as she let out a breath of air and turned her attention to Angel finally.

"Hey, what's with the blue chick that looks like Fred?" Faith asked Angel as she walked up to him and slapped him on the back to say hello.

"It's a long story," Angel replied with a glance back at Illyria before he turned his attention back to Buffy. "I'm glad you guys are here," he said sincerely as the noises of the demons and monsters continued to surround them.

"Let's do this then," Buffy said. She turned to Faith then, and their eyes locked like they had several times before on the bus. It was almost involuntary as she reached forward and put her hand on the dark slayers shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. Faith responded without question, hugging her sister slayer back with the same sincerity that Buffy was showing her.

When they broke from the hug, they turned back to see the faces of two confused vampires just staring at them.

"It's a long story," they both replied at the same time, letting out a chuckle when the words were out. They turned then, taking their positions… ready to fight yet another battle.

"Okay, you take the 30,000 on the left," Gunn said from where he was resting as he made an attempt to stand.

"You're fading, you'll last ten minutes at best," Illyria responded in her robotic way. She watched as Gunn stood despite his gaping wound.

"Then lets make 'em memorable," he replied, as Andrew and Giles helped him up on his feet.

"In terms of a plan?" Spike asked Angel beside him. Buffy and Faith both glanced at Angel too at the question.

"We fight," Angel responded, sounding more determined than ever.

"Bit more specific," Spike asked as he looked overhead at the dragon flying through the air.

"Well personally, I kind of want to slay the dragon," Angel responded. He then gazed upon the hordes of demons marching towards him and his friends over the hood of the bus, rain pouring hard like bullets, "Let's go to work."

Like a scene out of an action movie, the radio station that the Sunnydale school bus was playing swtiched to its next song. And like clockwork, the champions of mankind strode over and around the bus towards the army of Hell, while the rock music of Megadeath's "Shadow of Death" started to blare out from the bus speakers.

Angel took the lead as he strode around the front of the bus, Buffy, Faith, a gravely injured Gunn and Ilyria right behind him. Giles lead the rest as Andrew, Xander, Dawn, Kennedy Vi, Rona and the other faceless Slayers marched around the rear of the bus. Spike being the theatrical vampire that he is, hoped on-top of the bus's hood and jumped off onto the pavement, landing right behind Angel as his leather coat dangled in the wind on Spike's way down.

"What?" Spike asked Buffy and Angel who gave the blond vampire a look while rolling their eyes. Buffy said nothing as she looked back at Angel and offered him a small smile, feeling good to be around and fight side by side with her friends, family and her two favorite vampires.

"Uhhh B? Can we please hurry this shit along, big blue over here is creeping me the fuck out," Faith stated as she pointed with her thumb towards Ilyria who was inspecting Faith with her head tilted to the right.

"So this is a Slayer, THE SLAYER. I am interested to see what she is capable of," Ilyria said as she continued to inspect Faith.

"Bitch please, take notes and learn you blue motherfucker," Faith said as she strode over beside Buffy, leaving Ilyria standing and inspecting from a distance. Ilyria finally untilted her head and walked towards the mass of people assembling themselves into a battle formation and said to Angel,

"Curious, I don't know why but I find the Slayer...interesting...I like her."

"I'm hot shit yo, even dem blue bitches wanna piece of this," Faith replied from where she was standing a smile plastered on her face. Her remark earned her a playful slap on the arm from Buffy, and a smile coupled with an eyebrow raise from Spike.

As if to be the only one remembering that there was an army from hell marching towards them, Angel suddenly spoke very loudly and demanding to all of mankind's champions.

"FORM THE LINE!"

Everyone followed Angel's command, knowing that yet another apocalyptic battle would shortly begin, and the lives of millions depended on their victory yet again.

So there the champions of mankind stood, finally assembled in a V shape with a few of the stronger faceless Slayers standing in 3 rows behind Angel, filling in the gap between the V's wings. In the center was Angel. To his right stood Buffy, Faith, Andrew and a few of the weaker faceless Slayers, with an injured Gunn at the end of the wing. To the left of Angel stood Spike, Ilyria, Giles, Xander, Dawn, Kennedy, Vi and Rona.

Faith looked behind her and noticed Gunn injured and commanded Andrew and some of the Slayers near the back.

"Andrew and all those behind him!"

"Yes?" the selected few shouted back to Faith.

"I want you guys near Gunn at all times, defend him when he needs it!" Faith listened for her response and was satisfied by the group of "understood's" she got except for one. Faith looked behind her again fixing her eyes directly on Andrew.

"Yo Andrew, you hard of hearing?" Andrew looked back at Faith, with his sword in one hand and crossbow in the other as he gave Faith a pleading look.

"But… who's gonna defend me?" All of the Slayers let loose a few giggles before Faith responded.

"Ok new plan, everyone behind Andrew defend Gunn and the girl in man's clothing in front of you." Andrew suddenly smiled and seemed content until what Faith said dawned on him as his smile faded.

"Hey!" he contested. Faith gave Andrew a little smile as she turned her head back to the army fastly approaching while the others were laughing at him, just to show him that she was kidding around. Or at least to let him think that so he wouldn't run off when the fighting started.

Suddenly the Slayers and Scoobies were startled out of their joking mood as they heard and saw the dragon roar and rip through the skies once more. Their faces soon grew more serious as they heard and felt the war drums of Megadeath's music pounding through their ears and hearts.

"Uhhh, guys...?"

"What Xander?" Buffy answered, as she was still getting pumped up for the battle about to unfold.

"Where's Willow?" Xander asked just before all of the warriors of good started to look around for the red headed witch. However all they found were brick walls, metal fences and street lamps, until they all noticed lightning starting to eminate from behind the bus.

Suddenly without any warning or need for explanation, there was Willow, floating in the air and hovering over the bus. Willow started to float towards her friends and family; her eyes glowing yellow, her aura crackling with lightning and a confident smile on her face as she spoke louder then the bus speakers were playing.

"THE LORD IS MY SHEPPARD, I SHALL NOT WANT!"

With that, Angel started to march forward as did the other's follow while he said,  
>"HE MAKETH ME LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES!"<p>

Then another voice rang out, Buffy's voice, "HE LEADETH ME BESIDE THE STILL WATERS!"

Spike then spoke, "HE RESTORES MY SOUL!"

Faith spoke next, " HE LEADETH ME IN THE PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR HIS NAME SAKE YEA, THOUGH I WALK!"

Andrew then spoke, "THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH!"

Kennedy followed, "I WILL FEAR NO EVIL!"

Giles shouted out, "FOR THOU ART WITH ME, THY ROD AND THY STAFF, THEY COMFORT ME!"

And much to everyone's surprise, Ilyria then spoke as she started to have that snarling look of bloodlust on her face, "THOU PREPAREST A TABLE BEFORE ME IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES!"

Dawn then continued, "THOU ANOINTEST MY HEAD WITH OIL, MY CUP RUNNETH OVER!"

Xander spoke then, "SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY SHALL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE!"

And finally, as Hell's army beckoned by Wolfram & Heart were but mere feet away, Angel and Spike both shifted into there vampiric forms.

Angel raised his favourite broadsword in the air as the others did after him and roared one last time, "AND I WILL DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD FOOORRR-EVVVVVVAAAAAAAAA!"

As fast as the battle started, so did the bodies begin to fall. Angel and Spike linking hands and pulling a metal wire tight between each other, in almost the blink of an eye, decapitating 4 demons before the wire was dropped to the ground and the two en-souled vampires fought with their swords. Buffy and Faith also fought in an incredibly familiar rhythm. As Faith would decapitate any demon Buffy sent bleeding her way, Buffy would slice off any demon part that Faith sent her way. The original Slayers were impressive and showing beyond a shadow of a doubt, why they are called the "Chosen Two". The way they forced their enemies towards each other's strikes was dramatically cutting a line through the demon army. So much so that a few demons got by Angel's right flank and walked right into the 3 rows of Slayers behind him. It wasn't long however though, that they were sent flying through the air past Angel, landing on and crippling their fellow demons.

Willow was truly a sight to behold. Although many of the group may not have noticed, Willow was taking out the demons near the back and middle of the army as well as holding off the dragon. Unleashing lightning strikes to the dragon's throat to make it retreat, launching fireballs to the back and center of the demon army and casting barriers overhead of her friends and family as the dragon breathed hell's fire over them. Xander and Giles were doing surprisingly well fighting as a team. Both men covered each others flanks and parrying the many swords and axes being jabbed at them.

As impressive as mankind's last stand was becoming, it did not last. Finally, after 15 minutes the demons successfully made it past the gap between the Chosen Two and Angel, as well as a tiring Giles and Xander, who were now all out of the alley and fighting on the streets of LA. It was now every man, Slayer, witch, ancient demon goddess and vampire, for itself.

Although the line was broken, earth's heroes were still smart enough to fight in groups. The chosen two Slayers and en-souled vampires briefly locked eyes during the battle and began to fight towards each other.

"Back to back!" Buffy yelled and they got into the requested position.

15 stabbed, dismembered and decapitated demons later, Angel, Spike, Buffy and Faith stood back to back forming a small square as they fought off the demon army of Wolfram & Heart.

Xander and Giles were doing their best to survive, but this battle was starting to become too much for the ageing men. Soon after the two vampires and Slayers formed their defensive unit, Giles and Xander were struck to the ground. Giles by a thrusting bicycle kick after parrying a demons sword, and Xander by a left hook while trying to defend a fallen Giles. Just as the last thing the two men were about to see was the blades of a demon army, they both saw 5 swords cover and loom over their heads, holding the falling demon weapons from raining death upon them both. Xander and Giles then witnessed a bunch of swords being struck into the air and a bunch of demons being stabbed to their deaths as they fell lifelessly to the ground. Suddenly 8 feet passed overhead of the two fallen men as they both realised what just happened. Giles and Xander realised that Dawn, Vi, Rona and Kennedy united and saved them both from death as they watched the small unit continuously fighting the battle in front of them.

Kennedy was on the right, covering the group's right flank to ensure the 4 girls didn't get surrounded, while Dawn covered her left flank. Vi was taking the most of the demon army's attack as she was duel wielding her sword and the sword of a fallen demon, stabbing, parrying and beheading anything that was in her way. Rona was beside Vi, covering the groups left flank, using both her sword to parry, stab and behead, but also her cast on her now barely fractured arm as a mace; smashing in the face of anything that tried to get behind the groups left flank.

Meanwhile, Ilyria was having the most fun of her now mortal life. Feeling the life of a demon suddenly stop as she squeezed its neck and watched its head pop off its body and shoot out into the sky. Feeling how good broken bones felt as she punched a fist size hole through another demons face. However, Ilryia started to get cocky and let her guard down slightly, which is all it took for one and then many demons to dog pile on top of her to keep the ancient demon goddess down. Smiles on the demons faces soon began to fade as they felt something vibrating and moving beneath them. Seconds after the Ilryia dog pile had begun, demons were seen flying through the air in all directions as Ilryia launched all of the demons off of her. In a fit of rage and incredible speed, Ilyria caught one the demons in mid air with both hands above her head, and sent the demon crashing down to her knee, snapping and tearing the demon in half.

As all of mankind's heroes seemed to be fairing well in the battle, some were not so lucky. Gunn, Andrew and the weaker Slayers were having a very difficult time staying alive. 4 of the Slayers that were behind Andrew were now circling Andrew and Gunn, trying to defend them. However these Slayers had not had nearly as much training as the others, and as a result, were slightly weaker. Most were bleeding from various wounds, some of which were almost as bad as Gunn's was.

As easily as a bunch of demons charged the circle of Slayers, so did those Slayers fall. Gunn took this opportunity vault in front of a quivering Andrew and used his axe to decapitate a few demons before they regained there composure and knocked him to the ground. Gunn knew his life was over, but he happily awaited his death as 3 demons were about to slice him into the next plane of existence.

Charles Gunn's death never came. Instead, the demons found themselves baffled as they saw their swords stopped by a long sword attached to human hands. Those hands belonged to Andrew, who a few moments ago was a quivering mess, and was now strong and intoxicated with rage.

"NOT ONE MORE!" he yelled violently. With more speed then anyone knew he had, including Andrew himself, the boy shifted the demons swords into the air and decapitated two demons with a downward swing through one, quickly followed by a upward swing through the second. Andrew, Gunn and even the last remaining demon's eyes went wide with surprise. None of them could believe what Andrew just did. Until seconds later when the remaining demon sucker punched Andrew to the ground and was about to stab him while Gunn was trying to get back up on his feet. Andrew shut his eyes in anticipation for the blow, but the blow never came. Instead, Andrew opened his eyes to see Ilyria standing over him and Gunn with a headless demon's body in Ilyria's left hand.

Ilyria threw the demon's corpse aside and extended her right hand and helped Gunn up and sit on a trash can. Ilyria then turned to Andrew and helped him up on his feet.

"There's hope for you yet boy" she said, before she turned and walked towards the large but dwindling demon army.

Although the demon army still greatly out-numbered the good guys, the Scoobies, Slayers and Team Angel were winning. Hope seemed to fill earth's heroes as they could actually start to see where the demon army ended. As quickly as that hope came, it suddenly began to vanish as an exhausted Willow plummeted onto a bunch of garbage bags next to the now re-formed Slayer, human and vampire attacking front line. Screeching was heard through the sky as the dragon that Willow had been keeping at bay was now freely roaming the skies, flying suspiciously closer to the battle. Buffy, Angel, Spike and Faith were the first to notice the dragons behaviour and quickly looked to their comrades.

"RUN!" they yelled in unison.

Thankfully, the warriors of good ran and dove towards the way they had come as the dragon swooped over the mass of bodies and missed its targets as it sprayed a torrent of fire onto 90% of what was left of the demon army, killing most of the remaining demons in seconds.

Willow finally sat up in the garbage pile she was in, looked around and saw the carnage that lay all around her. She locked eyes with Buffy, Faith, Angel, Spike and the rest of the good guys as they came together near Willow.

"Umm.. guys, thhhhhattttt could be a problem," Xander said as he wondered how they were gonna deal with the dragon flying above them.

Angel now in his human face looked at Willow.

"I know you're exhausted, but do you have enough energy left in you to get me up there?" Angel asked the red-haired witch.

"Pfft, glory hound," Spike scoffed as he shifted into his human face and rolled his eyes at Angel. Willow looked at Angel with guilt on her face.

"Sorry Angel, I know you want to slay the dragon but I just don't have anything left," Willow replied sadly.

"Mr. Angel, if you don't care how you get up there, I … I can help you," a voice that sounded like Andrew's spoke out.

Everyone was looking at Andrew like he grew a second head, wondering how he would manage to get Angel into the air or if this was just another one of his foolish ideas. Indeed everyone was pondering Andrew's ability. Everyone that is, except Angel he turned to face the young man.

"Do it." Angel stated quickly and confidently. Andrew wasted no time and reached into his pockets to pull out a bunch of herbs and peach bone looking thing that he taken from Willow's "just in case bag" on the bus just before the battle had begun. Crunching the herbs in one hand and then smashing the peach bone into the crushed herbs he chanted,

"Acknumus, decoppate, suminorde VOLATICUS SIMIANUS!" And suddenly in a dissipating puff of black smoke, two ape like creatures with wings stood on either side of Andrew. Everyone, including Angel was dumbstruck and silent until Faith and Spike burst out laughing.

"MONKEYS? YOUR GONNA GET FLYING FREAKING MONKEYS TO GET PEACHES UP THERE TO SAVE THE DAY? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT'S BLOODY PRICELESS!" Spike shouted through his laughter. When his laughing fit faded, he then looked at a disgruntled Angel.

"Better be careful mate, I hear these buggers throw poo at anybody who isn't the wicked witch of the west, HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Spike said and began laughing once again with Faith joining right along with him. Angel, with broadsword in hand, stone faced, teeth gritting, gave Spike a look and never took his eyes off of him.

"Do it," Angel stated through his clinched teeth to Andrew. With a flick of both his wrist's and glowing eyes, Andrew silently commanded his otherworldly minions to grab Angels arms and they began to flap their wings. As Angel and the two Wizard of Oz rejects took to the sky, Xander pointed to the remaining demon army who were starting to regroup.

"Uhhhh...guys?" He pointed out to where the demons were now and the others turned so they too could see what Xander saw. With that, Buffy looked at her fellow comrades and family as what was left of the demon army started to advance once more.

"Looks like were stuck on clean up duty guys. C'mon lets punch out and go home," Buffy stated quickly, and with a smile on her face as she turned back to face the remaining demons that stood between her and the end of this battle.

Meanwhile, up in the skies, the dragon was still roaming free, about to make another move for the moving bodies on the earth. That is until something flew right above the dragons face, causing it to stop in mid-flight and hover in the air. As the dragon was wondering what it just saw, a falling Angel appeared in the dragons vision above its head.

"Arrcchhhahhh!" A demon's anguished cry was the last thing to be heard as Andrew fired a bolt from the crossbow he had taken for extra protection from the bus, the only crossbow the Sunnydale team seemed to have brought, right between the eyes of the last remaining demon from the horde which once threatened mankind. Andrew had a big smile on his face and was feeling very proud of himself until he realised the shoulder that the crossbow bolt went over and who's head he almost hit while firing. Andrew's face suddenly twisted in horror as Faith just stood there not moving an inch. Andrew waited for her to react, and it happened in a split second as Faith turned around and saw poor, quivering Andrew holding an empty crossbow. Andrew was uncomfortable as Faith was staring a hole right through him, so he tossed the crossbow to Giles and smiled back at Faith like nothing ever happened. When he realised that she didn't buy it and was starting to stalk towards him, he held up his hands up in surrender.

"Please Faith, no. It was an accident, Faith, I'm too young to die, FAITH PLEASE NO! AHHHHH!" Andrew suddenly found himself with his eyes closed and on the floor with a larger body on top of his. A few seconds passed before he felt the ground shake hard and heard a loud crashing sound. It sounded like a meteor or something heavy fell from the sky and crashed into the earth. When Andrew opened his eyes and the dust and debris cleared, his eyes widened in amazement. Not because the living incarnation of sex was laying on top of him, but because past Faith, inches from his feet, laid the dragon lifelessly staring at him.

Faith noticed Andrew's shock and was about to make a smart ass remark about him getting lucky, but instead she saw Andrew's surprised face gazing past her and remembered a loud crashing sound moments ago. Faith and now everyone else who is not an evil demon, looked at the dragon with amazement. Kneeling on top of the dragons head between it's horns, knelt Angel who was covered head to toe in blood while looking like he was playing "Sword in the Stone" with the dragons head and his broadsword.

Angel pulled his sword out of the dragons head, walked towards Ilyria who looked much like a crying Winifred Burkle in that moment, as she cradled a lifeless Charles Gunn in her arms. Grabbing the lit cigarette that was about to fall from a dumb stuck Spike's lips, Angel took a puff from the cigarette, and looked down at a dead Gunn while flinging the cigarette away.

"Buffy, have your Slayers gather our dead," Angel stated to the blonde slayer. Angel then bent down beside a crying Miss Burkle, closed Gunn's eyes with his free hand, snaked his other free arm around an uncontrollably sobbing Fred, helping her up as he did.

"Let's go home," he said quietly.

As Angel and a human feeling Ilyira stepped onto the Sunnydale High school bus, all of earth's heroes grabbed their gear and their comrades, both wounded and fallen, and made their way to the hotel Angel once called home, the Hyperion Hotel.

Just as the bus full of mankind's battered, beaten and dead champions began to hit the streets and travel to their destination, a demon's head hit the ground. Splattering and smashing what was left of a once mighty army of Hell, thus ending the threat to mankind.

For now.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The silence in the Hyperion lobby was eerie. Somehow, despite the numerous demons and monsters that they had battled on the streets, Charles Gunn and four of the younger, inexperienced slayers that Buffy still had not learned the names of, had been the only lives lost in the battle. The severely wounded were dropped off at the local hospital, but all were expected to make it through. They were slayers now after all, and their healing abilities would have them feeling better in no time.

What remained in the lobby that night was an exhausted blonde slayer, a dirty brunette slayer, a drained red haired witch, a distraught one-eyed carpenter, a stressed watcher, two en-souled vampires, a emotional blue demon with the face of a fallen friend, an excited yet worried former key to an unknown hell dimension, a geeky young man who was still surprised at the help he had been able to provide and 10 other new slayers that had no idea how to control their new powers.

News of Wesley's untimely death earlier on in the battle that night had stunned the Scoobies. Despite not knowing him as well as Angel's crew, they had known him and Giles was saddened to hear about the loss of his one time colleague. Faith tried to hide her sadness about his death, but Buffy could tell by the way she was standing that she was more upset than she wanted anyone to know. Buffy hadn't heard the whole story about what happened in L.A. when Faith was here. Faith hadn't been welcoming with the information but Buffy could only assume by the pain Faith was hiding about Wes' death that he had forgiven her for any wrongdoings she had done before.

Cordelia's death had left them all just as upset. After all, she had been a member of the Scooby gang not all that long ago. Buffy knew from the stories that Angel told her that Cordelia had changed over the years, and she wished that she had gotten to know that Cordelia Chase instead of the one she remembered. Her death had obviously caused Xander the most pain, because as much as he had tried to deny it, she had been his first real girlfriend, and he loved her in his own way. He had already lost the love of his life tonight, and to find out he had lost Cordelia only made his heart hurt more.

Angel had felt it best not to mention Connor… at least not right now. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to say even when he explain it to them, but he knew if he tried tonight it would fall on deaf ears.

It was Giles that broke the silence by clearing his throat. He had taken the past few moments of silence to look at Buffy and could see the exhaustion written all over her face. Not only had she just fought in two apocalyptic battles in one day, but she had prevailed in them both. He knew that despite her leadership role to the new slayers she would welcome his direction and authority.

"I suggest we all get some rest… Willow, if you don't mind, perhaps you could tell everyone the room situation you have prepared," Giles said while looking at the witch, who was sitting on the couch with her eyes barely open.

"Sure," she said, standing from her comfortable spot as the new slayers gathered around her. She quickly gave out rooming assignments, two to a room. She had to alter her plans a little due to the 4 injured but it didn't affect her previous plans too much.

As soon as room assignments were announced, everyone gathered what little they had and made their way to their rooms. The silence lingered, with exception of Andrew's chatter as he followed behind Giles like a puppy dog looking for a bone. Buffy was the last to make her way up the stairs toward the room she would be sharing with Dawn. She had watched as everyone else made their way up the stairs and as Angel and Spike made their way into their respective sleeping quarters with a sad Ilyria next to them. Buffy had wanted to say something to them, but she found that she was too tired to get into a conversation as deep as the one she needed to have with both of the vampires. Instead she walked slowly up the stairs, just as everyone had before her just minutes before, and took the long trek down the hall to where she would be sleeping next to her sister.

As she walked she couldn't help but let all the emotions of the past day and night hit her. She tried to block out the pain, the fear, the anger, the excitement and the anticipation of what was to come, but it was impossible. She had been through a whirlwind these past hours, and she knew that this was only the beginning now. There was so much to do, and she knew that, but she also knew that she wasn't going to be able to do any of it if she didn't get some much needed sleep… and a very necessary shower. But instead, Buffy fell asleep almost as quickly as she lay her tired body down on the bed, before she even had a chance to shower.

When she woke the next morning to the sounds of girls laughing outside her door, she immediately ran to the shower, hoping that there was still some hot water left for her.

She emerged clean and refreshed, feeling like a new person. She couldn't explain the feeling that was inside of her… but she knew that things would be different now. She stayed locked away in her room for over an hour, using that time to think long and hard about what was going to happen next, and she knew she needed to discuss her plans with the Scoobies before anything could get started.

Willow and Giles sat comfortably in the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel on the couches, going through some books that Angel had managed to save from the evil law firm before it perished in the battle. Faith was back in her spot on the counter, legs propped up the length of it and she was playing the PSP she had found in the office just hours before. Xander was behind the counter, staring off into space.

Buffy smiled at the sight of them as she made her way down the stairs. It was Xander who saw her first and when he smiled at her, Buffy could see that the sleep had really helped him.

"Buffster! It's great to see you!" he exclaimed getting the attention of the others.

"How'd ya sleep B?" Faith questioned after pausing her game and swinging her legs around so they were dangling over the edge playfully.

"Honestly, I think the shower this morning was even better than the uninterrupted sleep," Buffy said with a little laugh. She turned then to face the two that were seated on the couch. "I know it's a little early, but we should discuss plans," Buffy said, slipping right back into slayer and leader mode. Giles smiled at her statement and shut his book quietly.

"Yes… I am interested to hear what you have come up with," he responded, sitting up further in the seat as Willow set her book aside. Xander made his way closer to them so he could be in on the conversation and Faith stayed seated on the counter, already close enough to be involved.

It took a few minutes, but once Buffy got started, she really moved. She told them all about her plans to open a slayer school. Somewhere for the new slayers to be trained properly and learn to use their powers to the best of their ability. She talked about how she wanted to teach them and how she was hoping Faith would be by her side for the ride and would help with the girls. She talked about having Giles rebuild the Council, knowing that there had to be at least a few Watchers who had survived. She even managed to excite Willow when she explained how she wanted her to start a coven of her own… one that worked directly with the slayers. She was so precise in her explanation, that Giles couldn't help but be impressed.

"Jeez Buff… you really thought this all out didn't you?" Willow asked when Buffy finally paused long enough for someone to get a word in.

"Well… I guess… it all just kind of came to me when we were driving to L.A.," she said, almost sounding a little worried. "You don't think it's a good idea?" She directed the question toward Giles, and he was both honoured and relieved to see her want his opinion once more.

"I think it's brilliant Buffy… I think it as all very manageable as long as everyone does what is needed of them. And I still have some contacts that I will attempt to get in touch with as soon as possible. I believe the sooner we begin work on this project, the better."

"Yeah, and all those newbies running around here need some serious training to keep the hyperness down… crazies were up at the ass crack in the morning running around like maniacs on speed," Faith replied from where she was seated.

"Perhaps you should get them all together and do a small workout this afternoon… just to get some of their energy out," Giles offered, glancing from Buffy to Faith and back again. Faith just looked at Buffy.

"Sounds good to me… what about you B?"

"Sure," she said, happy that everyone had liked her very well thought out plan for the future. "I think I need to talk to them anyway. Xander? Can you make sure everyone is in the conference room in an hour for a meeting and for training?" Buffy asked focusing her attention now on the one-eyed man.

"Yep," he said clapping his hands together. The sound echoed off the walls and he stood from where he was seated and started toward the stairs. He didn't hesitate as he walked up them, beginning to shout out the names of the girls.

Faith jumped down from the counter then and began to dig through her pockets in her jeans.

"I'm gonna go for a smoke before we get this started," she said as she finally managed to find the pack of cigarettes she had been looking for and pulled one out, holding it between her lips. She didn't wait for a response but she could almost hear Buffy rolling her eyes as she walked out the back door.

Willow was the next to stand up. She took the book she had been reading and began to make her way toward the office.

"I'm so excited… I'm going to get started right now!" she said, sounding like a child who had just been told she was going to Disneyland. She squealed a little bit before turning around on her toes and skipping off toward the office doors.

Now Buffy and Giles were alone. Buffy watched as Giles gathered the books he had been reading into a neat pile and began to stand.

"Giles?"

"Yes?" Giles said, turning to face his blonde slayer and sitting back down where he had been before.

"I had one more idea…" 

* * *

><p>Buffy stood there in the center of the conference room waiting patiently for the new slayers to come in. Giles sat in a chair in the back of the room, watching his slayer as she waited and Faith sat next to him with her eyes closed, lounging in her chair. Willow and Xander were sitting in a chair on the other side of Giles, already in full planning and research mode with Will working hard at her computer and Xander drawing up plans of some sort. Just as Giles looked down at his watch, the conference room door opened and a flood of girls walked in chattering up a storm. Vi, Rona, Kennedy and Dawn walked in last, Dawn shutting the door behind them.<p>

"Where's Andrew?" Buffy asked, wondering why he wasn't with them as she had specifically requested he be there. But before anyone could provide an answer, the door opened once more and Andrew came barging in, out of breath, like he had been running to get to the meeting.

"Sorry I'm late… there was a James Bond marathon on the television… it was hard to tear myself away," he offered as he shut the door and leaned against the wall next to Dawn. All of the new slayers, as well as Buffy and Giles rolled their eyes at his explanation.

"I called you all here because I wanted to talk to you all directly about the plans we have been making. I am sure you are wondering what exactly we are going to do now. And after discussing it this morning, we have decided we are going to be opening a slayer training school of sorts. A place where all the new slayers can come to learn everything they need to know to make them the best slayer possible," Buffy explained.

She saw as small smiles broke out on their faces. While some of them disliked her when they first arrived in Sunnydale, and throughout their entire time staying there, they had found that since they had survived the battle with the First, the way she acted and the things she did made more sense to them. It was almost like they were able to understand her better now that they had their slayer powers.

"I understand if you want to go back to your homes and live your lives there. But I was kind of hoping that you would want to stay. I know that it has been a rough couple of days, but I wanted you all to know how proud I am of you. You were great out there and I couldn't have asked for anything better. Some of you still have a lot to learn, while others I saw step up. You may not think I noticed, but I promise you I did."

Buffy walked up to Rona with that same purpose she had when she had talked to the Scoobies outside of the bus. She stood so she was right in front of her and their eyes met.

"Power," Buffy said firmly as she did. Rona's eyes went wide with amazement and shock as she realized that Buffy had actually given her a compliment. Buffy noticed the look on Rona's face and smiled as she continued. "Out of all the slayers here I believe you are the strongest. Back in Sunnydale I saw you… and I saw you fight with ease against those uber vamps… and you did it all with a broken arm! Your power is an asset and it will be necessary in the future I can promise you that. If you stay here with us, you will learn to control it… and the others will rely on it," Buffy said proudly.

Rona for her part was trying to hide the pride she had. The legendary slayer had just told her she was powerful. She was trying to hide behind her toughness that she always kept in front of her. But Buffy didn't let her… she pulled her into a hug, which Rona found she was unable to resist. When it ended, Buffy gave Rona a reassuring nod, and turned so she was facing Vi.

"Fury," she said. Vi's expression turned to one of embarrassment as Buffy started to talk. It made her chuckle out loud a little before she continued. "Don't look at me like that… like you just got caught taking a cookie out of the jar before dinner time. I saw you during the battle… and you were a one woman wrecking crew. When the battle fully erupted you were taking vamps out one by one with that blinding passion and rage rolling off of you in waves. I saw the same rage during the battle last night… and you were a force of nature out there. Your biggest strength is also going to be your biggest curse however. I have seen first hand what fighting with that much passion and rage can do… and it can cloud your judgment… and if you stay here we can help you keep that passion, but also teach you how to not let it make you arrogant. You have a lot of heart… and that's is what will make you a great slayer," Buffy finished.

She didn't even give Vi a chance to think about what she had said, before she pulled her close and hugged her briefly like she had Rona before her. They smiled at one another as the hug ended and Buffy couldn't help but shake her head a little and smile bigger as she turned so she was directly in front of Kennedy.

"Captain," she stated. "Ken as much as I thought you were a bratty pain in the ass… which you totally are… the truth is I don't know that we would be standing here if it wasn't for you. You really stepped it up… and you didn't have to. You were the one training most of the girls… you were the one they were looking to for answers when I wasn't around. As much as you like to call me 'General Buffy' you are a general all the same."

Kennedy laughed a little at the comment but knew that there was a lot of truth behind Buffy's words.

"You acted like a leader Ken… from the moment you walked into my house and still standing here right now. I watched you and saw as you inspired the others, how you made decisions that were necessary in the heat of the battle. You protected the weaker girls and you were the one they were relying on when it got bad out there. Your leadership skills will be valuable with us… and they will be called upon countless times from this moment forward. I need you with me as a leader… don't be afraid to lead them."

When Buffy was finished Kennedy couldn't help but step forward and wrap her arms around Buffy. They both had those cocky smiles on their faces when the hug ended, and Kennedy lightly and playfully punched Buffy on the arm before Buffy looked at her sister.

"Dawn… I'm so proud of you. You fought so amazingly well… where did you learn to fight like that?" Buffy asked.

"What? You think I never watched you?" Dawn questioned back. The sisters hugged once more. This hug lingered longer than the others but once it ended, Buffy was right back into slayer mode when she finally got to Andrew.

He was sitting on the floor with his head leaning back against the wall. He was looking up at the ceiling, clearly not paying attention to a word Buffy had been saying. Buffy slapped him lightly upside the head and startled him out of the daydream he was having.

"Stand up," she commanded to him. He did so on shaky legs, not having any idea what was going on. "There are no words to describe how annoying you can be. You are by far the biggest geek I've ever known and that's saying a lot considering Xander has been my best friend for so long. Sometimes I wonder how you managed to survive through all of this… and even more so how the girls, or Giles," she said looking back at her watcher, "haven't killed you."

Andrew took a breath and held it in. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Faith had now woken up from her little nap in the chair and was leaning forward with her elbows on her knees and her face resting in her hands. She had that smirk on her face that always seemed to scare the crap out of him.

"So Andrew, you may be a geek… but you are OUR geek. And I know I've never said this to you and it's long over due, but I'm proud of you. You could have turned on us at any moment with the First, but instead you didn't back down and stood strong by our side. We never told you how much we appreciated the things you did for us… the cooking, the cleaning. While you may have originally been a hostage in my home, you turned out to be so much more. And last night you proved just how valuable you are to the team… when your quick thinking helped us win the battle. So what do you say Andy… you think you are willing to call us your friends… your family?"

Andrew leaped forward then, at a speed so fast it surprised everyone in the room, and hugged Buffy fiercely.

"Oh Buffy! I'm so happy… I can't tell you what this means to me. It's like I really am Vegita from Dragonball Z, the once evil and proud Sayian prince now fighting on the side of earth's hero…" Andrew started to ramble.

Buffy held out her hand in protest.

"Okay Andrew… you are losing major points right now in the macho category," Buffy said as she attempted to pry the now crying Andrew off of her and glancing back toward the others for help. He was still wiping at his eyes when Faith stood and started stalking over toward him, making his tears stop instantly and his heart jump into his throat with fear.

"I forgot… you and I were just about to get cozy before that dragon showed up," Faith began as she continued to move slowly and predator like toward him. Finally she was right in front of him and he stood there, slightly shaking with nerves. Faith tilted her head to the side, threw on that cocky smirk of hers.

"Give us a kiss," she said.

Andrew didn't waste a minute. He was out the door of the conference room in the blink of an eye, running up the stairs and dodging anyone that happened to be in his way. Faith chuckled before she started after him.

"Get back here you little fucker! Quit being such a pussy! Grow a pair for once! I ain't gonna hurt you!" Faith yelled as she ran after him.

Buffy stood watching out the open door and could do nothing but laugh as she watched the scene unfold. Andrew ran around the couches in the main lobby with Faith right behind him. The remaining slayers and Scoobies followed out the door to watch the antics just as Faith reached out and grabbed Andrew. He let out a squeal… one that made Buffy want to cover her ears.

"Ken… our new leader… please help me!" Andrew pleaded as he looked over the group of new slayers watching with huge smiles on their faces. Faith was holding him in a headlock and he was frantically flailing his arms trying to break free from her hold.

"Asking a woman to defend you huh Andy?" Ken replied with a laugh.

"Oh please Ken! You know the only reason you aren't over here helping him out is because you know I'd smoke you," Faith responded with that signature grin.

"Oh… so scared Faith. The scary slayer act doesn't really work for you anymore… I think you're getting a little soft on us," Ken countered back. Faith's grin turned to that devious smirk as she gripped even tighter on Andrew's head and began to tickle him in the stomach. He started laughing, and Faith didn't let up, even when it seemed he was having trouble breathing.

"Please… anyone… help… me," he tried to say in between the torture. Ken glanced back at her sister slayers… and without words they instantly knew what she was asking of them. Before anything else was said, they took off running, all of them, directly toward Faith.

"It's your turn now Faith!" Kennedy shouted.

"Oh fuck no!" Faith exclaimed, releasing Andrew from the hold and bolting up the stairs with a slew of new slayers directly behind her.

"Think we are going to get any training done today Buff?" Willow asked as she came up behind Buffy. Buffy couldn't help but chuckle a little and smile to herself watching as the girls all dog piled on top of Faith and began to tickle her endlessly.

"Probably not… but that's okay, we have time," she said right before she took off running toward the group, ready to help Faith in any way she could. 

* * *

><p>The rest of the afternoon was spent working hard to get Buffy's plan moving. They knew that they couldn't stay in L.A. forever, but the biggest debate was where exactly they wanted to go. In the four hours they had been planning, that was one thing they still hadn't managed to agree on. Faith had left to go smoke when evening fell, Xander had fallen asleep with his head resting on some books at the table, Willow was still frantically typing away on her computer with her eyes watering from looking at it for so long, and Giles hadn't gotten off the phone for longer than 5 minutes at a time.<p>

Buffy rubbed her temples and brushed her long blonde hair out of her face as she glanced up at the clock. The sun had set but it was still early… only 7 o'clock. She stood from her seat, stretching her arms up to the sky before heading out of the conference room they had been in since that afternoon and toward the office to get a glass of water.

"Hey love," Spike said as she entered the office. Buffy jumped slightly when he said it, but recovered without him noticing.

"Hi," she said. She still hadn't taken any time to figure out in her own head what she felt about Spike being back. She knew what she had said to him just before the Hellmouth closed on top of him. She also knew what he had said back to her. And he was right. She didn't love him… she never could love him… at least not the way he wanted her to. But she did care about him, and she was glad to see that he was indeed… well alive was the wrong word… undead?

"How's the plans for world domination going in there?" Spike asked with a little chuckle. He sat down in the chair behind Angel's desk and kicked his feet up, resting them on the desk in front of him.

"Slow," Buffy responded, dragging the word out and grabbing a bottle of water out of the small fridge next to the door. "How are you?"

"I'm here… don't ask me how… never really did get much of the info on it love… all I know is when Sunnydale collapsed I thought I would be dust. Turns out I was dust, but only for a short bit before I found myself here in L.A."

"I'm glad… you know… that you're here," Buffy said, turning to head back out of the office. She knew that he was going to want to talk to her more, and she wasn't sure what she would say.

"Buffy… I think you and I need to have a chat," he said, standing from the chair and heading over toward the door where she stood. He reached the door and closed it softly, looking directly into her eyes.

"What about?"

"You know what about… you told me you loved me Buffy," Spike said with a little irritation in his voice. Buffy walked around him then and went to the chair he had previously occupied. She didn't sit in it but she kept her back to Spike before she responded.

"And you told me that I didn't… what's there to talk about?"

"Was I wrong?" There was silence between them then. Buffy knew he already knew the answer, but he had to hear it from her before he could let it go. She owed him that much… he had been willing to die so all of them could live. Before she could respond, she felt his hand on her shoulder. "Buffy?"

"No… you were right," she said as she turned to face him. She had tears in her eyes that she tried to push back but she couldn't keep them from surfacing. "I wish I did mean it… and I do care about you, but I will never love you… not like that," she finished.

Spike bit his lip then, and Buffy noticed the look in his eyes change. It wasn't anger or hatred… it was sadness. He truly did love the blonde slayer… and he knew in that instant that she would never love him back. He released his hand from her shoulder and took a step back, forcing out a small smile.

"It's alright… I just had to hear you say it you know," Spike said. Buffy smiled a little back at him and their eyes locked for just a second. She moved around him then, gripping her water bottle tightly and headed back toward the door. She stopped as she got to it with her free hand on the handle.

"I'm sorry Spike," she said quietly with her back still turned to him.

"Well if you ever change your mind… I'll be here," Spike said with a gleam of hope in his unbeating heart. Buffy didn't say anything more, she just turned the handle and walked out the door, never looking back.

She considered going back to the conference room… but she needed to get away, even if it was just a few minutes. So she made her way out to the back and sat down on the bricks, looking up into the night sky. Her mind was reeling with thoughts… her conversation with Spike had really gotten her more rattled than she had wanted to admit.

"Nice night out isn't it B?" came a raspy voice from the shadows. Buffy turned then and a smile instantly lit up her face.

"I was wondering where you went," Buffy said as Faith made her way over to her sister slayer, taking a seat next to her.

"I saw you talking with ole Spikey Boy… didn't want to interrupt."

"Oh that… yeah well…"

"You think you are gonna try to make it work? You and Spike I mean?" Buffy's head snapped around quickly to look at Faith.

"That's a big fat no," she quickly pointed out. "Besides… I think with this new life and journey we are about to have… I should be more focused on that than my love life anyway."

"So why do you seem so down then?" Faith asked. The sincerity in her voice surprised Buffy, even though she had seen the changes in Faith the past couple of days. Buffy found it easy to talk to the girl that she had once wished death upon… the girl she once considered her biggest enemy.

"I don't know… I wish I could snap out of it though," Buffy said, taking another sip of her water.

"Then I know just the thing," Faith said with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"What's that? And if it has anything to do with you and me naked together… I don't want to hear about it," Buffy said with the same smile across her lips.

"Now while that would be amazing, I think what you need right now is to get out… I bet the newbies could use a night out to get their energy out too. What do ya say B? You up for a night of drinking and dancing?" Buffy didn't even have to think about it. It was like Faith had jumped into her head and sifted through all her thoughts and found exactly what she needed to take her mind off of everything.

"That actually sounds awesome," Buffy replied. "Let me go shower and get ready to go… give me about an hour?" Faith rolled her eyes and stood up, offering Buffy a hand which she gladly accepted.

"You never get ready in an hour… I'll give you two. I'll go round the rest of the gang and tell them the sitch… you get ready to go and we'll all meet in the lobby around 9ish."

"Alright… I'll see you then," Buffy said as she headed back into the house, leaving Faith outside to finish the cigarette she had lit just a moment before.

"Oh and B?"

"Yeah?" Buffy asked, turning back around so she could face Faith.

"That thing about you and me… naked… that can totally be worked out if you want," Faith said, raising her eyebrows suggestively. Buffy couldn't help but laugh, but she didn't respond. Instead she went back in the house and ran up the stairs, looking forward to a night out to unwind.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

It took all of ten minutes inside the loud and brightly colored dance club for Buffy to decide she was going to need a drink if she was going to have any fun. When Faith made the suggestion of a night out, Buffy envisioned a club similar to the Bronze…but she quickly found out that L.A. clubs were anything but like the one and only club that her former home had.

The place was packed with people… surely more than Buffy thought was even possible to fit in one place. The music was so loud that her brain felt like it was about to explode and she could hear nothing but the thumping coming from the speaker she was jammed up against in the corner table near the bar. When they first got there, they found a large table, the one Buffy was currently sitting at, before ditching her one by one. The younger slayers, with exception of Vi, Rona, Kennedy and of course Dawn, stayed back at the hotel, under Giles' supervision.

Buffy watched as Xander, Dawn and Andrew argued while shooting a game of pool, Xander trying to convince the others that due to his one-eye status, he deserved a head start by having half of his intended billiard balls in the pockets. Willow and Kennedy were dancing with their hands all over each other, with Vi and Rona next to them, looking much cosier together than Buffy remembered them to be before. She let out a heavy sigh and looked around the overcrowded club for Faith, but was unable to find her at the bar like she expected. Buffy pushed her chair back, deciding it was time for a drink and just as she did a drink appeared from over her right shoulder.

"Thought you'd want something fruity," Faith said as she leaned close to Buffy's ear so her words could be heard over the loud music.

"You read my mind!" Buffy shouted in response to Faith, who pulled out the chair next to Buffy and sat down, taking a shot of dark brown liquor before looking over at her sister slayer.

"So why you sitting here B? Thought you were going to have fun tonight?" Faith asked.

"I was just… watching," Buffy said as she took a sip out of her drink from the straw that it came with. Buffy licked her lips after tasting it and proceeded to take the straw out and gulp the drink, leaving only a little left in the glass. She set it down in front of her and looked over at Faith.

"Okay… I'll get you another one of those… then we are going to show the juniors over there how it's done!" Faith said as she stood and somehow managed to make her way back through the crowd and to the bar.

Three drinks later and Buffy was laughing hysterically at the table. Willow and Kennedy had joined her and Faith and Xander had made his way over after losing two games in a row to Andrew and Dawn. Buffy had no idea what exactly she was laughing at, but she knew that whatever it was, it had to have been pretty funny. Everyone else was laughing along with her, or at least that is what she thought. They really were laughing at her.

"Oh! I love this song!" she exclaimed as she grabbed Faith's hand the DJ changed the song. "It's time to show them just how the real slayers do this," Buffy said as she pulled tightly on Faith and dragged her through the crowds of people to the dance floor. Faith couldn't help but laugh at the blonde, and let her lead the way.

When they got onto the dance floor, they started dancing and immediately were in a world of their own. Buffy's ass was flush up against Faith's front and their right hands were entwined above their heads with Faith's left hand holding tightly to Buffy's waist. Their hips swayed to the beat of the music, and Buffy closed her eyes, relaxing her body against the woman behind her. All it took were a group of what looked like college guys hooting and hollering at them to get Buffy to open her eyes once again and spin so she was now facing Faith. They continued to cheer them on and chanting "kiss, kiss, kiss!"

"Just ignore them B, we're having a good time, don't let those fuckers ruin it for us," Faith said as she leaned in close to Buffy's ear. Buffy closed her eyes as Faith's breath hit her skin. She opened them once more and locked eyes with Faith, who was wearing her signature smirk, complete with dimples.

"If we're just having fun, why not give them a little show then," Buffy replied, before she lifted her left hand up to Faith's shoulder. Faith's smirk grew in size and her eyes practically turned black when she realized what Buffy was proposing.

"Told ya if you wanted to get naked it could be arranged," Faith said in response.

"Faith… I didn't say anything about getting naked… I said let's give them the show they want." Faith laughed a little bit as Buffy slurred her words.

"Look B… you are really fucked up right now… and I know that I used to be the type of girl that didn't care, but I don't want to mess anything…" Faith began. But she was unable to finish as Buffy's right index finger reached her lips and covered them.

"Faith… shut up and kiss me," Buffy said before pulling her finger away. Their lips met in an instant, but it didn't take long for it to deepen, with Buffy being the insisting party. It turned from innocent to hot and passionate in only a couple of seconds, and the group of college boys who had been chanting and hollering only upped their hype as their kiss continued.

Willow, Kennedy and Xander sat at the table watching the scene unfold on the dance floor between the two slayers. When the kiss began, Xander's mouth dropped open and Willow couldn't help but smile as she leaned forward in her chair, pushing Xander's mouth closed with her right fingers.

"Didn't see that coming," Kennedy said as she watched from her seat.

"I don't know…" Willow began.

"You're telling me that you expected Buffy and Faith, who once tried to kill each other, once arch enemies, to start making out in a club?" Kennedy countered.

"That's so hot," Xander muttered from his seat and Willow and Kennedy quickly jerked their heads in his direction. "What? It is!" They shook their heads disapprovingly at him before looking at each other again.

"Buffy's going to be so pissed in the morning," Kennedy remarked. "She's going to flip when she finds out she was making out with Faith. You really are telling me you aren't surprised to see what's happening out there?" Kennedy directed the question to her girlfriend.

"No… you have to brush up on your Buffy and Faith history honey," Willow said as she patted Kennedy's arm and took a sip of her drink. She then turned her attention back to Buffy and Faith who had separated from the kiss and were back to grinding against one another. "I saw it coming a mile away."

* * *

><p>Giles made his way into the hotel lobby, with his nose in a book and a cup of tea in his hand as usual. The younger slayers were up in their rooms, doing who knew what, but Giles certainly didn't want to find out. When he reached the lobby he was startled to see Spike and Angel sitting there behind the desk, talking amongst themselves, each with a beer in their hands.<p>

"Oh, good evening. I wasn't aware that the two of you had not gone out with the others," Giles remarked as he put his book down and found a seat next to Angel behind the desk. "Where's you're… friend… the ah… blue one?"

"She left. Said she needed to find her place in the world… didn't say where she was going exactly, but she can take care of herself. We stayed in because we thought it would be best," Angel responded with that sad look on his face that Giles had seen many times before.

"The slayer dumped us both," Spike remarked from his place on the counter with several empty beer bottles surrounding him.

"Well this should make for an interesting evening," Giles muttered under his breath. Angel held out a beer for Giles which he glanced out and took, after setting his cup of tea down on the desk.

"I guess it could be worse, she could have dumped me for you," Spike said with disgust as he pointed his finger at Angel. "At least she dumped you too."

"She didn't dump me… she just started talking about cookies and dough or something like that," Angel countered back at Spike before Giles cleared his throat loudly, interrupting the bickering between the two.

"While this is a fascinating conversation, I do have a matter which I had hoped to discuss with you both," Giles said as he got more comfortable in the chair he was sitting in and took a sip of his beer. Once it had gone down, he looked at the bottle funny, setting it down and grabbing his cup of tea in its place.

Giles didn't waste any time discussing with both Angel and Spike what he and Buffy had discussed earlier that evening. They both sat there quietly listening while he explained Buffy's grand plan in opening the school for the new slayers to train and how they were going to reform the council and form their own coven with Willow heading it. It wasn't until he brought up Buffy's idea that included the two en-souled vampires, that they made any indication they had been listening to the watcher at all.

"Wait… you are telling me that Buffy… miss high and mighty… this was her idea?" Spike asked as he opened his fifth beer.

"Why us?" Angel asked before Giles had a chance to respond.

"You are both trained fighters… and you have souls. Is it wrong to assume you would both want to be in on this with us?" Giles questioned back.

"So let me get this straight," Spike started, "you want me and Angel here to travel around the world as some sort of watcher types, finding and gathering up all the new slayers that you created with your witch-fu… and you don't think that there is something wrong with this scenario?" Spike questioned.

"No, I think it is a great thing for the two of you to do. Angel, you still have the jet that you acquired while working with the law firm and you both know a great deal that will be helpful to the new girls and will be able to assist them in the nature of vampires and some early training… I'm sure you can persuade them to come with us," Giles said.

"What if they bloody try to stake us!" Spike shouted.

"Now Spike, I do believe that their might be some combative girls out there, but I have no doubts that between the two of you that you can excel at this," Giles responded.

"So the slayer wants us out of her hair huh? I guess that makes sense… makes it easier on her I bet. I knew she had deeper feelings than she was saying," Spike muttered to himself.

"Shut up Spike!" Angel shouted at the bleached vampire. "Have you all decided on a location?" Angel inquired.

"I believe we have narrowed it down yes, but in the end that will be Buffy's decision."

There was silence amongst the three of them then. Giles watched as the information filtered through their minds and waited for their response to his proposal.

"I should check out the jet to make sure it's ready to fly," Angel said as she stood from his seat, smiling slightly at Giles. Angel then looked over at Spike. "You coming?"

"I guess so… got nothing better to do," Spike said as he jumped off the counter, placing his beer down.

"Splendid," Giles said with a grin.

* * *

><p>The next morning was a hard one for Buffy. She woke up in the late afternoon with the sun in her eyes since she had forgotten to close the curtains before heading out the night before, and her head was pounding slightly from the alcohol she had consumed. She rolled over in bed and let the events of the night filter through her mind.<p>

She had kissed Faith… willingly. She had been an active party in making out with Faith, like a horny teenager. She wanted feverishly to deny that she had enjoyed it, but couldn't help but admit, even if only to herself, that she had been a little turned on by it.

She had never looked at Faith that way, but it was no surprise that Faith had looked at Buffy. She had never come right out and said that she was into her, but she never tried to hide it either. She had always flirted, always made references to them hooking up. So she knew that Faith was going to be okay with what had happened the night before. Unless… she was worried about Buffy's reaction.

Buffy quickly decided that she would act totally normal around Faith, almost like she didn't even remember it happening. That way their friendship that they were trying so hard to rebuild wouldn't be damaged beyond repair… again. But still, there was confusion inside of Buffy about how she felt about the kissage. She had been into it, she had initiated it even. She was starting to wonder just what that meant when the door opened quickly and Dawn walked in.

"Giles wants to see you in the conference room, like 20 minutes ago," Dawn said as she entered the room.

"I just woke up!" Buffy whined.

"Since when has Giles cared about sleeping late?" Dawn replied. Buffy couldn't help but sigh because Dawn was right. Giles didn't care that Buffy had been out late or that she was slightly hung over, or even that she had kissed Faith and was now confused about how she felt about it. And she sure wasn't going to tell him any of that.

She got up and managed to look presentable in only 15 short minutes before she made her way out of the door of her room and down the stairs to the conference room where Giles was waiting for her. She wasn't at all surprised to see him with a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, but she was surprised to see Andrew seated at the table looking like he was about to be thrown overboard from a boat into a swarm of sharks.

"Sorry I'm late, what's up?" Buffy asked as she entered the room, closing the door behind her.

"Ah yes, so glad you could join us Buffy," Giles said as he set down his book and tea. "I wanted you to be aware that I have spoken with both Angel and Spike, and they have agreed to your proposal… they are already making the necessary arrangements so they can set out shortly," Giles said all business-like.

"Good… so I take it there is just one thing left then?" she asked as she glanced over at Andrew and then back to Giles. "Have you talked to him yet?"

"No, I thought it would be best if you were here," Giles replied. With that, he turned to Andrew and addressed him. "Andrew… we would like to discuss our plans with you. I know you have heard about some of them with the girls, but we wanted to discuss more in depth with you about how we were hoping you would join in on our efforts."

"You mean, you want me to help, instead of just cook and clean and stuff?" Andrew asked tentatively. Buffy couldn't help but laugh as Giles sighed loudly and rolled his eyes.

"Andy… we want you to train to be a watcher. I told you before, you did some quick thinking out there, and we could use your kind of knowledge with us," Buffy said.

"You mean I would train under Mr. Giles?"

"Yes, I uh… well, I will help you learn your duties appropriately and you would then be assigned a group of girls that you will be in charge of… as their watcher," Giles said.

"I can't believe this is happening to me! Me, Andrew Wells… Watcher of the Slayers of the Vampyres…" Andrew began.

"Shut up Andrew… are you in or not?" Buffy asked, trying not to be irritated with his rambling.

"Oh, yes, of course… I promise I will do everything I can and I will train and listen and follow orders… I'm really good at that… and I will help out wherever I can and…"

"Shut up!" both Buffy and Giles yelled at the same time.

"Sorry."

"Now, that's settled then. You're first job as watcher will be to go gather the girls, we need to discuss patrol this evening," Giles said as she stood from his chair and Buffy from hers. Andrew held back the urge to run up and wrap them both in a huge hug and only nodded is head and ran out the door to start his first task.

* * *

><p>The lobby was full as the new slayers and watcher junior were horsing around. Buffy took the opportunity to speak her mind and let the young ones know what the plan was for that night.<p>

"Alright everyone, listen up!" All the young eyes in the room were now on Buffy in anticipation. "Now that I have your attention, here is how tonight is going to go. Faith and I are going to head two teams. Faith's team will be covering a few cemeteries and streets and alleys on the west and my team will be covering the east. Both Faith and I will not be engaging in the fight unless the situation gets out of control." The girls began to mumbled to themselves and the others around them, mostly out of excitement with the idea of being on their first solo patrol. Buffy continued before the chatter became louder. "Remember, you are NEVER alone. Faith and I didn't have the luxury of sister slayers with us on patrol. If you feel outmatched you need to ask for help, and we will be there to back you up. Don't get too cocky."

Faith chuckled with Buffy's last statement and Buffy couldn't help but smile. Things had worked out just fine when they finally did see each other. Buffy acted as if nothing happened, and Faith did the same. Buffy almost actually forgot about the kissing between them, until the Scoobies were sitting around discussing patrol and a bet was made about who would kill the most vamps. The winning team would get first pick of rooms at their new home, and the losers… they were going to be stuck with whatever was left.

"Before we tell you the teams, I just want you all to know that there is a little bet going on between the family here, so you better be prepared to kick some ass out there tonight," Faith said in between chuckles.

"What's the bet?" Andrew asked after raising his hand.

"Don't worry about the bet, just focus on your objective Andy," Faith said. She then smiled brightly, letting her dimples show, looking at Buffy and raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"Now if you wanna know about the bet, some of you are going to have to wait til you're a little older."

"Faith!" Buffy screeched.

"Ewwwee!" Dawn yelled while desperately clenching her eyes shut and holding her eyes with her hands. Meanwhile, Faith glanced over to Kennedy who was smirking just the same and flashed her the "call me sign" with her fingers.

"We'll talk later," Faith said to Kennedy who could only laugh out loud.

"There will be no talking later!" Buffy commanded as she gave both Faith and Kennedy her best version of Willow's scowly face. The room fell silent at general Buffy's command, but Andrew took the opportunity to lean over toward Kennedy.

"You'll tell me right?" he asked. Everyone burst into laughter, with exception of Buffy who was trying to resist the urge to throw something large and heavy at Andrew's head.

"Look at pimp daddy Andy! Getting along with all his slayer hoe's!" Faith shouted and smiled. Andrew was now beside himself with pride as he continued to smile bigger and bigger. Unfortunately, his smile ended abruptly as Buffy threw a pillow that hit him directly and forcefully in his head. All eyes turned back to their general.

"Moving on!" Buffy commanded. "My team is going to be Kennedy, Vi, Rona, Dawn and Andrew. The rest of you are with Faith."

The girls quickly made their way over toward their respective Chosen slayer in their teams.

"Do you have anything to add Faith?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah… team Buffy is going down! That's right princess! You're going down!" Faith shouted pointing her finger at Buffy, getting a devious grin from the blonde.

"Ohhhhh!" all of Faith's team hollered at the comment. Faith smiled confidently as her team continued to holler and slap hands with one another.

"It's so on Faith," Buffy responded.

"We'll see princess… we'll see," Faith said.

"Alright everyone, let's move out! Protect yourselves, your sisters and Andrew at all times!" Buffy shouted as they started to make their way toward the exit.

"Hey!" Andrew exclaimed.

"You started it," Buffy said with a smile, patting him on the back and following the group out of the hotel.

* * *

><p>"Andrew, on behalf of team Buffy, I would like to say… WOULD YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Kennedy yelled from her spot ahead of the others.<p>

"What? You can't seriously tell me that you don't like Katy Perry!" the watcher junior protested.

"Oh I love Katy… I wanna eat her out until she can't scream my name anymore, but I DO NOT want to hear you sing Firework!" Kennedy shouted back.

"Fine! Then you find something to sing to pass the time," Andrew suggested. Dawn burst out laughing at the suggestion, snorting and holding her stomach doubling over from the laughter.

"What? I can sing… shut up," Kennedy struck back.

"Please… I heard you singing the shower. Your high notes could kill things! Maybe that's why Giles had a headache earlier," Dawn responded through her laughter. Ken responded by pushing Dawn lightly and pouting slightly. The rest of the group began to giggle at the banter.

"Shut up miss 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'," Ken quipped back at Dawn, which stopped the laughter and got a collective "Arghh" from the group in a disgusted manner. Andrew for his part let out a high pitch squeal and without thinking spoke.

"I love that song!" Everyone stopped where they were and looked over at him like he had two heads or something. Andrew wasn't quite sure what made everyone stop, but from several yards away he spotted something. "Oh look, evil things," he said pointing towards a group of 10 vampires with his long sword. Vampires started coming out of every direction in front of team Buffy in the Angel's Rest Cemetery.

"Holy fuck it's about time!" Kennedy cursed out loud. "So Buffy… you gonna be leaning by a tree or some… Buffy? Buffffyyy? Dawn, where the hell did your sister go?"

"I have no idea, I didn't even know she left but I'm pretty sure it was Andrew's singing that scared her off," Dawn replied without taking her eyes off of the vampires.

"Hey!" Andrew retorted.

"Actually, I thought he did a pretty good job," a random vampire in black jeans and a matching shirt exclaimed.

"Thank you! See even evil things think I'm good," Andrew said proudly towards team Buffy.

"But we're still gonna kill you and most likely rape all your little friends before we kill them too," the black jeaned vampire announced with a wolfish grin.

"Arrrrcccaaahhh!" A blood curdling scream was suddenly heard as a wooden tipped crossbow bold fell from mid-air into a pile of ashes on top of the grass. All eyes were now widely open and locked on a very intense looking Andrew. He held Giles' crossbow, that had been seconds ago lazily gripped and pointed towards the ground, now aimed and steady pointing towards the now assembled group of vampires. His head never moved from looking down the crossbow's sight and his eyes never left the now pile of ash on the ground as he spoke.

"I don't think so."

The 9 vampires growled at Andrew's last comment and started to charge. Kennedy quickly stood in front of Andrew as Dawn jumped to her left and Vi and Rona ran to her right, with the junior watcher attempted to reload the crossbow as quickly as he could. The group of women started to charge forward to meet their enemies head on.

Vi let loose a warriors battle cry, quickly ducking under two vampire's wild haymakers, pulling out two stakes from either side of her jean jacket and simultaneously staking both of her attackers as she lunged forward at her next victim even before the former two vampires turned to dust.

Rona was the second to attack her target, and boy what a target it was. The vampire she was charging into was over 6 feet tall and looked like he could have been in the WWE. Despite his massive size, he was anything but slow. The Schwarzenegger vamp got the first shot off against Rona, launching a straight right cross aimed at Rona's face. Luckily for her, she managed to pull her casted arm in front of her head to block the blow. However, the blow shattered her makeshift mace into pieces right before her eyes. Both the vamp and the slayer stood there in a slight state of shock. The Schwarzenegger vamp couldn't believe the blow didn't send the girl falling and crying to the floor and Rona on her part was surprised at how much weight she just lost from her arm. She flexed her fingers satisfyingly and smiled as she heard the joints cracking and muscles stretching without any pain.

A sudden growl from her opponent got Rona's attention once more to the fight that was still ongoing. The vampire, now angry at the dark women, raised both of his fists in the air, joining his fists together and gathering his strength before he went to deliver a hammer blow. But before the undead brute could gather his strength to form the attack, Rona quickly lashed out with her now freed and much faster first and arm. She launched a series of three quick straight punches right under the vampire's chin, snapping his head back three times in less than two seconds. She didn't give him a chance to recover or reel back in pain, as she quickly closed the space between her and the monster before her, bent her elbow which held her stake, spun around so her back was now facing the enemy and rained a powerful and bone crunching Mai Tai elbow strike to the side of the vamp's chin. She followed with another spin and a hard uppercut with her cast free fist right to his nose breaking it instantly.

After the few seconds it took for Rona to open a can of whoop ass on her attacker, the undead monster stumbled backwards, eyes glazing over into la-la land, not even howling in pain. But the la-la land never came, as a crossbow bolt struck him in the chest, bringing him a swift death by the watcher junior as Rona moved to find her next victim.

"Get the boy!" shouted one of the remaining vampires as him and a friend, teeth ready turned to Andrew.

"What? No! Don't get the boy! Get the girls! Get the girls!" Andrew was frantically yelling to 2 vampires that were slowly zooming in on their pray as the junior watcher clumsily tried to reload the crossbow once more to no avail. By the time he managed to successfully reload, the two undead predators were mere feet in front of the boy.

"Any last words boy?" one vampire asked him as he moved in. Andrew looked at them blankly before yelling loud enough for his entire team to hear.

"SLAYERS… ASSEMMBBLLEE!" The two vampires laughed and one knocked Andrew to the ground with a swift backhand slap across the side of his head. When Andrew managed to shake off his blurred vision, he saw the two vampires looming over him ready to stomp a mud hole in his ass, and got ready to take a defensive position on the ground with his hands covering his head.

However, Andrew's ass kicking never came. Right before his eyes, the two demons let loose a paralyzing screech as they turned into ash and crumbled to the ground before him. Now standing in their place were Kennedy and Dawn, both with ash covered stakes pointing towards Andrew with their elbows locked, feet shoulder length apart and upper body thrusting forward.

"You rang?" Dawn asked as she and a smiling Kennedy helped Andrew up from the ground. Before Andrew could respond, they heard Rona shouting in their direction.

"Heads!" she yelled just as the trio looked to see Rona gripping a vampire in mid-Juto throw. The three got the message immediately, and ducked as Rona tossed her enemy at least 20 feet over the members of her team that had ducked their heads and bodies. Kennedy decided to take it upon herself to show off, as she staked the flying vampire mid flight.

"Show off," Rona said as she smirked and strode over to her companions.

"Hey you guys… where's Vi?" Dawn asked from where she was standing. Team Buffy began to look around for their sister slayer frantically in fear that she may have perished… or worse.

Fortunately, to the group's relief and disbelief, they heard grunting and turned their heads to see Vi standing toe to toe with two poorly dressed vampires. Vi launched a flurry of right and left hooks to each vampire's chin one after the other, with blinding speed as her fury mounted and her punched rolled. Finally, after what seemed like fifty strikes later, she let out a loud war cry as she kicked both vampire's kneecaps inward one after the other. The vampires were now on the brink of unconsciousness and could not even feel the pain as Vi stepped up just behind the kneeling monsters and reached into her jacket once again, pulling out her instruments of death for the second time that night. She twirled the stakes in her hands before double staking the two fiends through their backs while looking at the last remaining vampire who was now frozen in fear in front of her.

"Found her," Rona declared, in awe of what she had just seen Vi accomplish.

"Hooollly FUCK!" Kennedy exclaimed in pure amazement.

"One girl in all the world, hand picked for a destin… OW! Okay, okay! Dawn… I'll stop just quit hitting me!" Andrew complained.

"Crossbow!" Vi yelled from her spot. "Crossbow!" she yelled again after a few seconds and no response.

"What? Why are you all looking at me? Oh… right! CROSSBOW!" Andrew yelled back to Vi as he heaved Giles' crossbow to his chest and took aim at the now fleeing vampire.

"AARRAAACH!" was the last sound anyone heard as Andrew fired and the vamp turned to dust, falling from the sky above them. All of team Buffy looked now at Andrew, once again like he had a second head. He took the opportunity to play it cool. "Wells, Andrew Wells," he said while gathering his weapons.

Rona, Kennedy, Dawn and Vi were now laughing at his comment as they all punched his arms and gave the watcher junior a few pats on the back.

"So…. Anyone for some frozen yogurt?" the young man questioned to his companions as they began to head out of the cemetery.

"Andy! The man with the plan!" Kennedy laughed and blurted out as she and her teammates linked arms and headed toward the hotel to drop off their weapons before finding the nearest yogurt shop.

Watching and waiting from a distance in a tree, blonde hair rustled over a face with the wind blowing past a smiling slayer.

"Well done," she whispered into the wind.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Dawn knew something was up. Buffy had been acting strange for the past week and it wasn't just because of all the planning they had been doing for the move. It was more than that, but Dawn just couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was. She wasn't the only one to notice the blonde slayers odd behaviour either. Kennedy had agreed with Dawn during one of their many midnight conversations that Buffy was definitely acting unusual.

The last week had gone by in a blur. The days were filled much the same way they always were back in Sunnydale… with research. This time however, there wasn't some big bad that had come to town and was trying to destroy the world or open the hellmouth…no, this research was even more boring. This was the planning kind of research.

Once everyone, and by everyone that meant Buffy, had decided on Scotland for the location of the new slayer school they were going to open, things started immediately. Giles had been on the phone practically from the moment they arrived in L.A., and he had been able to track down several watchers that had survived the bringers that were sent by the First. He was pleased because the three men he had been in touch with were all newer to the ranks of watcher, which meant Giles could easily train them and convert them to his ways of teaching. They were quick to agree that they would be a part of this newly reformed council and would follow Giles' lead and expertise and do whatever was asked of them to help. But the best part… the best part was that one of these men had information that proved to be more helpful than anything Giles could have ever hoped for. Information on the previous council's bank accounts… funds… money, that sort of thing… and how to access it.

As soon as word got around to the main Scoobies that money had been found, even more planning began and more vigorously than before. They had all wondered where they would find the money to fund this project Buffy had created, but with the information Giles had received, they had enough to at least get them to Scotland and find a place to set up shop.

Xander was the one in charge of finding a place to live. He spent countless hours starring at a computer screen, clicking from one place to another as he looked at the specs of the properties. He knew what he was looking for… a place big enough to house them all, with room to grow. Even though he was missing one eye, luckily he still had his carpentry skills, which knew he would be putting to good use once they got to Scotland. The money that they had found was useful, but it wasn't an endless pot of gold that could buy them a five star resort on their own private island anywhere. So Xander searched tirelessly, until three days into the search he found a secluded castle that was in decent shape and in their price range. 48 hours later, the castle had been purchased under Giles' name and Xander began drawing up the plans for any work and expansions that needed to be done once they arrived.

Willow was working her magic, both literally and figuratively. She was using her skills to locate women who had been a member of a council friendly coven that had disbursed once the council had been eliminated. The women had scattered, and Willow would do her locating spells to find them using the necklace they had given her when she spent her time in England, and once she did, she would get in touch with them and use her charm and wit to explain the plan with much more enthusiasm than the others had ever seen. In the past week, she had managed to locate five women, all of which were willing to help her when they finally made their move to Scotland.

Faith had been put to work too… and she hadn't argued about it either, much to the surprise of everyone around her. She had been given the chore of making the travel arrangements for the group. She had researched airline prices and called around trying to get group discounts until she found the amount of tickets she needed at a totally reasonable price. She even went so far as to locate a car service that would pick them up from the airport in Scotland and transport them to their new castle.

It didn't take long for Faith to make the travel arrangements, so once she was done she had been helping the others out as necessary. If Willow asked her to do something, she would do it without question. When Xander brought plans over to her for review, she looked at them intently and added any suggestions she had. When Giles began to rub his glasses furiously after being on the telephone for hours on hold, Faith gladly sat there waiting until someone finally picked up to speak with him. She had really become someone they learned to work with, and she was happy that the gang was treating her like she had always wanted… like she was one of them.

Spike and Angel had been making their own plans. They had been making an itinery of sorts trying to decide where they were going to start on their search for slayers. They inlisted the help of Willow at first, to see where her spell showed the highest number of newly activated slayers and went from there. They were set to leave from L.A. just a day or so before everyone else was going to be leaving for Scotland.

Andrew had been keeping the new slayers occupied for most of the day. He called it training for his new watcher duties and found that most of them would listen to his tales with wide eyes and open ears. He couldn't have been more pleased with the reception his stories of the Chosen Two were receiving.

Dawn, Kennedy, Vi and Rona were having none of Andrew's antics however. They had heard all the stories hundreds of times, hundreds of different ways… and they managed to make themselves scarce during story time. This had given them a lot of time to hang out… get to know one another. And a lot of time to watch as everyone else worked so hard to get plans set.

Which is why Dawn knew something was up with Buffy. During all of the planning for Buffy's grand plan, Buffy had avoided everyone like the plague. At first, Dawn was sure it had something to do with the bet they had made that first patrol night in L.A. Even though Buffy's team had really done a number on the 10 vamps they had destroyed, the other team ran into a huge nest and dusted over 20 that same night. Faith spent the entire week ranting and raving about how her team had won.

But after Dawn and Kennedy had overheard Buffy talking to Willow about how she was glad Faith's team had won because she wanted Faith to pick her room first so she felt like she was an equal to Buffy, Dawn quickly realized it had to be something else. Most of the time, Buffy was no where to be found. Anytime someone asked where she was, everyone would look at one another and shrug their shoulders and then just move on with the task they were working on.

So after seven days of wondering what exactly was causing Buffy to act so… avoidy… Dawn and Kennedy hatched a plan to corner her and find out just what was going on. Kennedy had spilled the beans to Dawn the night before about the kiss that happened between Buffy and Faith that night out in L.A. and as soon as Dawn got over the disgust factor… her and Kennedy both agreed that the kiss had to be what had Buffy acting so distant.

"You ready?" Kennedy whispered from her spot across the hallway from Dawn where they were both hiding out of sight. They knew that Buffy would be coming down for nightly patrol about this time, and they were ready for her.

"I think so… what exactly is the plan again?" Dawn whispered back. Kennedy rolled her eyes instead of responding and put her finger to her lips, indicating with the other one down the hallway where Buffy had just emerged from her room.

She walked down the hall, focusing entirely on her fingernails as she walked. She knew that she should be taking a more active roll in the planning since it was her idea and everything, but she couldn't manage to shake the feeling she got every time she saw Faith. At first she tried to convince herself that it was nothing… that the kiss had been a drunken mistake and nothing more. But once she saw Faith later that day, she quickly realized that no matter how much she tried to convince herself… the kiss hadn't just been nothing.

Now Buffy had all these… feelings. She was confused and concerned and the only person she knew to talk to about it was completely consumed in planning their future. Buffy had promised herself that she would talk to Willow… eventually, but until then, she had made the decision that avoiding Faith all together would be the best route.

As Buffy made her way down the hallway, still focused only on the chipped nail she had gotten on the previous nights patrol, a figure jumped out from beside her and knocked her into the wall. Strong hands held her left side against the wall firmly and within seconds another set of just as strong hands had a hold of her right side.

"What the hell is going on? Dawn?" Buffy shouted as she looked up and saw her sister standing holding her in place on her right. "Kennedy? Let go of me!"

"Not until you talk to us," Dawn said firmly, using the tone that Buffy had used on her so many times before.

"Talk to you about what?"

"What's going on with you! You've been totally distant and acting like you are planning to kill yourself or something… you aren't planning on killing yourself are you?" Dawn asked. Buffy rolled her eyes and shook free from both slayers grasp.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I am not distant… I have just been taking some time to myself is all… I deserve that I think!" Buffy exclaimed as she straightened out her shirt.

"Riiiiggghhhttt!" Kennedy said with sarcasm dripping from her mouth. "We know you Buffy… and for you not to be in there with everyone driving them nuts and planning everything just perfectly, something is going on."

"Is this about Faith… and that night at the club?" Dawn asked hesitantly. Buffy's eyes jerked up at Dawn's question and she studied her sister for a minute. She then slowly looked over at Kennedy who was wearing a guilty expression on her face and Buffy knew instantly that Kennedy had seen her antics with Faith.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Buffy said quickly as she shimmied to move around both Dawn and Kennedy. But the two younger girls weren't about to let her get away that easily.

"I call bullshit again," Kennedy said with a smirk that resembled Faith's so much that it practically made Buffy crawl out of her skin. But before anyone had a chance to say anything else, footsteps could be heard around the corner.

"What's bullshit?" Faith asked as she made her way up to the three. She noticed the close proximity of them and raised her eyebrows. "Everything alright B?"

"Uh… um… yeah… everything's fine, just joking around right girls?" Buffy asked as she shot both Ken and Dawn a death glare. Small smiles broke out on their faces and they nodded their heads in agreement.

"Yeah, just having some fun before patrol, you know how it is," Kennedy said to Faith as she and Dawn backed away from Buffy slightly.

"Alright… well you two better get down there, Andy is handing out group assignments for tonight," Faith said as she pointed toward the stairs.

"We'll talk later Buffy," Dawn said as she followed Kennedy down the hallway and toward the stairs with a huge grin on her face.

"Can't wait," Buffy replied sarcastically. Faith watched as the two new slayers disappeared from view and she heard their feet making their way down the stairs. She turned back to her sister slayer then with a concerned look on her face.

"You sure everything's alright?" Faith asked.

"Oh yeah, positive," Buffy said as she headed down the hall the same direction Kennedy and Dawn had gone just seconds before. Faith turned on her toes and was beside Buffy in a heartbeat and Buffy couldn't help but feel her blood pressure rise.

"Well if you wanna talk about it… I know it's probably not easy for you," Faith said as they walked slowly down the hall.

"What isn't easy for me?" Buffy asked, stopping in her tracks. She had a lump in her throat. If Faith knew what Buffy was feeling, Buffy was sure she would have no choice but to have Willow make her disappear.

"You know, with the gloomy vamps leaving town... Angel and Spike… they ringing any bells?" Faith asked. She was surprised by Buffy's behaviour and the scared look that she was etched on her brow.

"Oh… that," Buffy said as she started moving again. She quickly found her chipped nail once more and focused on that as the two chosen slayers walked side by side. "Yeah, I guess it will be kind of weird without them around all the time," Buffy said mostly to herself.

"Yeah… kinda got used to them myself," Faith said. "So anyway… like I said, if you want to talk about it, I'm around."

Buffy took a minute to glance up at her and smile slightly. They walked to the lobby in silence after that, only Buffy's thoughts clouding her head as they did.

* * *

><p>The next evening came before anyone knew what hit them. The main Scoobies were gathered in the lobby where Spike and Angel were standing, both holding a single duffle bag. A bag of weapons lay at their feet between them.<p>

"We should get going… got lots of girls to find," Spike said as he casually flung his bag over his shoulder. He did his best to keep his eyes off of the blonde slayer that was standing in front of him.

"You have everything you need?" Buffy asked.

"Yep, and the jet is ready and waiting for us. We have Giles' contact information and will keep in touch to let you know how things are going," Angel answered.

No one moved from where they were standing. It was like everyone was waiting for someone else to start the goodbyes. Finally, when the silence had lingered for well over half a minute, Faith stepped forward and held her fist out to Spike.

"Take care of him man," she said as Spike glanced at her fist and pounded it with his own. Faith smiled briefly at him before looking over at Angel. She went through a small internal battle in her mind on whether or not she should pull him in for a hug. He had saved her after all. Buffy had been a big part of it, but it was Angel that kept believing in her… that helped her get through the roughest parts and mentored her through her redemption. She owed him more than she could ever say.

She didn't get a chance to make the decision for herself, as Angel leaned forward and pulled her into an embrace.

"Take care of yourself Faith," he whispered into her ear as she brought her arms up and wrapped them around his muscular frame. "Take care of her too," he then said even more quietly. They both pulled back from the hug and Faith stepped back, allowing Willow to step forward and hug both Angel and Spike without a word spoken between them.

Giles extended his hand to Angel, which Angel took and smiled.

"I will call you as soon as we make some headway," Angel said as they shook hands.

"I will be awaiting your phone call then," Giles said, pulling his hand away and then glancing over at Spike. The two men looked at each other for a few seconds before Giles cleared his throat and stuck his hand out for Spike.

"Good luck to you," Giles said as Spike eyed his extended hand. Spike looked up at the watcher's face. The man that had been dead set on ending his life just weeks before. Spike could see the uncertainty in his look, but he could also see the sincerity that Giles had in his eyes. So Spike took his hand and shook it properly.

"Thank you mate," Spike replied.

Xander nodded from his spot to both Angel and Spike. He kept mostly to the back of the group, not really sad to see either of them leaving. He had never been a fan of Angel or certainly Spike, but he was aware that what they were doing would help them all out.

As Giles stepped back, Dawn threw herself forward and into Spike's arms. He caught her much like he had many times before, and hugged her tightly. She had grown so much since he had first made that vow to protect her… she was a slayer now and his job was done.

"I'll miss you Spike… please be careful," Dawn said with her face flush against his shoulder and her eyes clenched shut.

"I'll miss you too little bit," he said quietly as he brushed her hair out of his face. She pulled away from him before the tears started and hugged Angel then, whispering the same plea to be careful to him. Angel nodded into the hug and then allowed Dawn to pull away and step back to Kennedy's side. The group held their breath as Buffy took a small step forward, moving her eyes from Angel to Spike and back again.

"Thank you… both of you… you know… for doing this," Buffy said quietly. She knew that they were doing this for her, because she had asked them to. She had been hesitant at first when she came up with the idea and pitched it to Giles, but he had been agreeable that they would do well at this assignment.

"Anything to help," Angel said. He moved forward just enough to pull her close to him and into a tight hug. As soon as she was in his embrace, she let her body relax. She had always felt safe in his arms, and this time was no different. She could remember a time when a hug from him would make all her worries go away. And even though she felt completely safe with Angel's arms around her, her worries were still there this time.

He released his hold on her and she backed up with a smile on her face. Spike stepped forward immediately and Buffy turned her attention to the bleach blonde vampire in front of her. He had gone to such lengths to be the type of man he thought she wanted… he had gotten his soul for her. The soul that ended up saving them all.

"Goodbye Spike," she said in a whisper and he smiled and turned his head to the side a little as she inched forward and extended her arms. She pulled him into a soft hug, which he reciprocated. He could feel the anxiety that was running through her as they hugged and he knew that despite not wanting to leave her, that it was best for them both.

He knew she didn't love him, not the way he wanted her to. Sure she had said the words, but even then he knew it wasn't true. And a week ago when he had confronted her about it, she had confirmed his suspicion, admitting that she could never feel for him the way he felt for her. It tortured his newly obtained soul… because he knew he would never have her, but that didn't stop him from loving her. And it was that love that made him decide that leaving on this journey was the right thing to do.

She pulled back from the hug before he did, but when he felt her move he released his grip from around her small body and looked deep in her eyes. He smiled and as she stepped back, he picked up his bag that he had put down at his side.

"See you guys," Angel said as he and Spike turned with their bags in their hands and headed towards the door. They never turned back but could feel Buffy's eyes watching them as they walked all the way out of the Hyperion Hotel and out of sight.

* * *

><p>A soft knock on the door pulled Buffy out of her thoughts. She had spent most of the day after Angel and Spike left alone in her room lost in her thoughts.<p>

"Come in," she said to the person behind the door. The door opened slowly and red hair peeked out from the other side.

"Everyone's in the lobby, you ready to go?" Willow asked in a shy voice, as she made her way further into the room and closed the door slowly behind her.

"I guess so," Buffy responded. "Is everything okay Will?" Buffy asked, immediately concerned by the tone in her best friends voice. Willow didn't answer her right away, instead she made her way over to the bed where Buffy was laying and sat at the edge.

"Just been busy getting ready for this move and everything… it's been really crazy. I don't think I've seen Ken at all the past couple of days."

"Her and Dawnie have been hanging out a lot lately," Buffy stated, even though the sentence came out as more of a question than a statement.

"I think it's the slayer thing… they both have all these powers all of a sudden and they have become really good friends. It's good I guess if you think about it."

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" Buffy asked as Willow looked down at her hands.

"Both maybe."

"You want to talk about it?" Buffy asked.

"Do you want to talk about why you are avoiding Faith?" Willow countered, looking up and meeting Buffy's eyes. Buffy tried to look away, but found that no matter where she looked Willow's eyes followed.

"Not really," Buffy said quietly.

"Didn't think so," Willow said. A minute of comfortable silence followed. They both sat there, looking at their hands, trying to figure out if the other one was going to say what was on their mind. Instead Willow stood from the bed and held her hand out for Buffy to take.

"We should get going… everyone's waiting for us," she said as she tried to put enthusiasm behind the statement. Buffy smiled at the change in subject and looked back up at her best friend. She took her hand and stood, taking one last glance around the room before following Willow out the door and down the hallway.

"It feels so unreal that we are moving to Scotland to live in a castle doesn't it?" Buffy asked as they made their way down the hallway toward the stairs.

"I think it's going to be great Buffy… we have a lot of support already with the couple of council members Giles located and with the women I have found to be a part of the coven. I think this is going to be a good move for all of us," Willow said.

"I think you're right Will… and if everyone pulls their weight, hopefully things will run smoothly and it won't take too long for us to be up and running. The sooner we get these new slayers trained properly, the better," Buffy said.

They made their way down the stairs to where everyone was gathered. Andrew had been put in charge of making sure all the new slayers had their bags packed and were downstairs on time as the rest of the Scoobies took care of some last minute things that needed to be done before they left the states.

"This everyone?" Faith asked as she entered the lobby, finding Andrew sitting on the steps and all the new slayers gathered around.

"Yes oh dark one…," Andrew began only to get a glare from Faith. "What?"

"Will you stop with that dark one shit!"

"Yeah Andy… Faith hasn't been evil for two whole months now," Dawn mocked and Kennedy chuckled from her side.

"Hey! It's been a lot longer than two months!" Faith countered.

"Wow Faith… I didn't know you could go two months without sex," Xander said as he made his way out of the conference room and jumped in the middle of the conversation.

"Faith's gone two months without sex? You really have changed," Willow said as she and Buffy made their way down the stairs to the group.

"How did this turn into a conversation about my sex life?" Faith questioned just as Giles finally emerged from the office.

"Sex is popular topic for you," Xander explained as he took a seat next to Andrew on the steps and glanced at the group of girls. "We all set?" he asked Giles.

"Indeed… I believe the car service is out front of the hotel and ready to take us to the airport," Giles said. He looked over at Buffy and she knew exactly what he wanted her to do. It was time for her to take charge… again.

"Everyone listen up!" Buffy shouted from where she was standing. The girls attention was immediately on the blonde slayer as she stood on the steps. "Make sure you have everything. There are two buses that will be taking us to the airport where we will be boarding the plane to Scotland. You should have already been told by Andrew which bus you are to be on. Once we get to Scotland, we will make our way to our new home and you will get further directions from us then. Any questions?"

A single hand raised in the middle of the room. Buffy looked first at the fingers, and followed them down the arm they were attached to, until she met the face of her sister.

"Dawn?"

"How long will it take to get there?" Dawn asked. Buffy couldn't stop the glare that formed on her face as she looked at her sister. She had expected a much more important question.

"Are you serious right now?" Buffy asked.

"What? It's a valid question!" Dawn shrieked from her spot.

"It's a long flight Dawnie," Willow explained from where she was standing and Giles nodded his head in agreement.

"Any other questions?" Buffy asked obviously annoyed. Everyone shook their head no as Buffy glanced around the room. "Good… then let's move."

Everyone gathered their bags and filtered out of the hotel. Giles locked up and took count to make sure everyone was accounted for on the two buses which drove them to the airport.

They stuck together inside the airport and got a lot of look from fellow travellers as the group made their way to their gate. They didn't have to wait long before they were called to board the plane and in groups they made their way to their seats. Giles took count one last time after they all had boarded the flight and finally settled in a seat next to Xander on the plane. Willow found herself in the window seat, with Kennedy in the middle next to her and Dawn in the aisle seat. Andrew settled next to Rona and Vi and all of the other new slayers paired off together in seats.

Buffy looked up and down the aisle, trying to decide if she would be more comfortable on a cross country flight next to a total stranger, or next to Faith. With the confusion she had on her feelings for her sister slayer, she quickly decided that sitting next to a stranger was a safer option at the moment. She didn't get the chance however to pick a seat, before Faith called out to her.

"Ya gonna sit with me or what B?" Faith asked as she stood from her seat to get Buffy's attention. Buffy had no choice then but to make her way down the aisle and sit next to Faith.

"Thanks," Buffy said as she sat down in her seat and buckled her seatbelt. The captain came on the overhead speaker announcing they would be taking off within minutes.

"Hoping to catch up on some sleep during this flight," Faith said as she fumbled around with her seatbelt. Buffy looked over at her.

"You haven't been sleeping?" Buffy asked. She hadn't been sleeping either, but she knew that was because her mind was completely filled with insane and confusing thoughts.

"I've had a lot on my mind," Faith explained as she then started to mess with the air above her, spinning it until it was blowing directly on her.

"I know what you mean," Buffy responded. "I can't wait to get to the castle and have my own room." Faith chuckled at the statement but didn't look at Buffy. "What's so funny?"

"Don't think you'll get off that easy princess… you lost the bet. You don't get a room to yourself for a whole week. You have to stay shacked up with the other losers from your team before you can pick your own room to sleep in," Faith reminded Buffy.

They had agreed that since rooms had already been established, the previous bet they made about the winning team picking their rooms wouldn't work. Instead, they all agreed that the losing team would have to spend a week in one room together. Somehow it had also been thrown in there that Team Buffy would serve as maids and servants to Team Faith, who had won.

"Oh yeah, that stupid bet," Buffy said exasperated. "You really are going to make me follow through with that?"

"Hell yeah! You would have done the same to me. Besides… I know exactly what I want you to do for me since you'll be my slave for a week," Faith said as she wiggled her eyebrows at Buffy and her dimples showed as she smiled. Buffy groaned in annoyance.

"Do you ever think of anything but sex?"

"Whoa! Who said anything about sex? Mind in the gutter or something B? All I said was I had big plans for you as my slave. I was thinking more along the lines of laundry and bringing me breakfast in bed. But if you want to add sex into it… believe me, you won't have to twist my arm," Faith teased.

"It's going to be a long flight," Buffy sighed out as the plane made it's way onto the runway and took off into the sky, headed for their new home.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"What the fuck is that?" Faith asked as she stood in front of the large SUV that had stopped just moments earlier and let them out. They had all landed in Scotland just two hours earlier and the car service had picked them up and escorted them to what would be their new home.

Kennedy walked up behind Faith and patted her on the back.

"Geez Faith, you act like you've never seen a castle before," Kennedy said as she shifted the bag she was carrying from one shoulder to the other.

"Not all of us were raised in houses that had wings sweetie," Willow softly reminded Kennedy who only looked at her questioningly.

It had been a long flight for them all. A lot of the new slayers had spent most of the time sleeping as did most of the Scoobies. But Kennedy had spent most of her time on the plane talking quietly with Dawn, Vi and Rona. She couldn't explain it, but she suddenly felt like she had this bond with them… something that she didn't have with all of the others.

"Before you all go running in, please let me remind you that 'calling dibs' on a room is not allowed," Giles explained, using air quotations around the phrase he didn't much understand. "Buffy and Faith will be assigning you you're rooms once we have all settled."

"Uh you are forgetting something G… we had a deal… Buffy and her team of losers don't get to sleep in their rooms right way. They all have to bunk together for one week and be slaves to my fantastic winning team," Faith said proudly, flashing a smile at the blonde slayer that stood several yards away from her.

"Bloody hell," Giles muttered under his breath. "Fine… however I insist that we have a discussion about the rooms and roommate situation privately between us adults before anyone makes any final decisions," Giles finished sternly. Buffy glanced over at Faith who was less than thrilled with the idea, but nodded in agreement. Giles then turned to Buffy and gave her that look she was sure she would be seeing a lot more of in the days and years to come.

"Alright girls… listen up!" Buffy shouted to the girls who were mostly wandering around the outlining gate of their new property. "Before you go into the castle, we are going to go in and get the lay of the land. You are welcome to walk around the property, but please stay in groups of two at least."

"Excuse me?" Andrew asked as he raised his hand with the question. Buffy couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Put your hand down Andrew! What is it?"

"Should I stay out here with the girls or should I come inside with everyone else?" he asked, still not quite sure of his place in the situation. Buffy didn't hesitate though when she responded.

"You are part of us now Andrew, you are coming inside with us. I also want Dawn and Kennedy with us too. Vi and Rona, you are in charge out here," Buffy commanded, as she picked up her bag once more and flung it over her shoulder. Xander made his way to the front, with the key to the gate in his hand and carefully unlocked it.

As soon as the large iron gate was opened, the property view was even more spectacular. There were acres of land surrounding their property, with a large greyish castle standing in the center. Several trees surrounded the main castle, and a walkway lead around it with bushes and other sorts of smaller trees on the sides. The girls all made their way up the front steps behind the Scoobies and set their bags down under the patio, immediately disbursing to check out the lay of the land. Xander fumbled with the key ring that the housing agent had given him, to find the right key to open the main castle door.

"We are going to need some sort of security on the property," Giles immediately stated as he watched Xander shake the key in the lock.

"I have some ideas I think," Willow said from where she was standing behind Xander.

"I have some too actually," Andrew announced as he looked up and around the property in the distance. Before anyone had a chance to say anything more, the key finally turned in the lock and Xander opened the door wide.

"Here we go," he said as everyone filed in, Giles flicking on the first light switch he could find on the wall. In front of them all was a huge staircase, that seemed to go on for miles. "Based on the blueprints I got when I bought this place, the kitchen, dining hall, several smaller rooms and one large lounge of sorts are located on this first level. The majority of the bedrooms and bathrooms are on the 3rd and 4th levels. I have some work to do on the 2nd level before we can do anything there," Xander announced as everyone just starred in front of them.

"Is there a basement?" Dawn asked, moving closer to Buffy, "I hate basements."

"There is, which we are going to use as a control room of sorts and weapon storage. I have some work to do in there too," Xander explained.

"So what's the plan then? Does everyone get their own room or are we going to bunk them?" Willow asked.

"I want my own room, that's for sure," Buffy said from where she was standing. Everyone turned to look at her. "What? It's only fair!"

"I am inclined to agree that at least Buffy and Faith should get their own rooms," Giles said quickly before anyone started to argue. Buffy smiled and crossed her arms over her chest dramatically.

"See. Even Giles agrees with me."

"Yes… I also believe that I shall need my own room because for a man of my age to share a room with anyone, well that would just be rather…" he trailed off trying to find the right word.

"Disgusting?" Faith offered.

"Gross?" Dawn chimed in.

"Molesterish?" Xander added. Giles only glared at the three of them and their answers.

"Okay, so this is what's going to happen. I think Faith and I should get our own rooms. Giles and Xander also will get their own room and Willow and Ken can have their own room too," Buffy directed as she felt the need to take charge come over her again.

"What about me?" Dawn asked.

"I think you should bunk with the other slayers. You are a slayer now after all."

"That isn't fair! Kennedy is a slayer too!"

"True, but you aren't having sex with Willow!" Buffy shouted back at her sister, the statement causing Giles to whip his glasses off his face and start to polish away.

"Buffy!" Willow screeched from her spot near the stairs as she jerked her head back to look at her best friend.

"She's kind of right Buffy," Kennedy chimed in from next to Dawn. "If she has to bunk with one of the girls then so should I. Maybe her and I should bunk up," Kennedy offered. Buffy glanced over at Willow and then back to Kennedy. She could feel the tension because of the words. Unsure of what to do, she backed up from her stop to allow Willow to get closer to Kennedy.

"Baby? Why don't you want to sleep in the room with me?" Willow questioned softly.

"It isn't that I don't want to, but it isn't fair to Dawn," Kennedy responded, trying to make a very uncomfortable conversation a little less uncomfortable. "I can still stay the night with you. But this way if I have late patrol or something, I don't disturb you," Kennedy finally answered, feeling like her reasoning made perfect sense. Willow didn't respond, but Kennedy could see the hurt in her girlfriend's eyes. Willow managed to swallow the pain and push back the tears as she plastered a fake smile on her face and backed up a little bit.

Willow knew that the past week had been different for them. She had been spending all her time contacting the women of the coven and Kennedy had been spending almost all of her time with Dawn and the other new slayers. Willow felt the distance growing between them, but knew that now was not the time to talk about it in front of everyone.

"Fine. So Dawn and Ken can bunk and Andrew will get his own room too," Willow said. Xander cleared his throat before saying the next thing, worried that Willow was a lot more upset than she was letting on. He had known her for longer than any of them, and he could tell that she wasn't taking this very well.

"There's one more room on that floor that isn't going to be taken by the new watchers… any suggestions on who should get it?" he asked.

"I think Rona and Vi should bunk and take it for sure," Faith said from where she was leaning against the wall. "Those girls are close as hell and they have been here the longest," she finished.

"I agree," Giles responded clearly glad to have settled that situation without a fight. "And we have the others bunk two to a room on the 3rd floor."

"That leaves one girl without a roommate though," Willow said quietly. Before anyone had a chance to respond Vi opened the door and poked her head in.

"Excuse me, but Buffy?" Buffy turned around so she could face Vi and looked at her questioningly. "There's a couple of people here to see you," Vi explained before she pulled the door closed again and vanished out of sight. Buffy looked over at Giles who looked just as confused as she did before she moved toward the door with the others following her.

She opened the door only to be face to face with two people… one of which she knew she had seen before but she couldn't put her finger on where… and the other she was sure she had never seen in her life.

"Olivia?" Giles asked from behind Buffy as he moved to get around her and to the dark woman in front of Buffy. "I didn't expect you this quickly!" Giles announced as he pulled her into a warm embrace.

"I came as soon as you offered… I've missed you Rupert," she said as she pulled back from the hug and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. His face turned red almost instantly and Faith and Kennedy were laughing immediately.

"Giles has a girlfriend?" Kennedy whispered to Dawn who was standing between her and Faith.

"She used to be, we met her a long time ago," Dawn responded in a hushed voice to both Kennedy and Faith. "She was visiting that time those creepy guys came and took all our voices," she finished explaining. Giles cleared his throat and turned to face everyone.

"Everyone, this is Olivia… some of you may remember her from her visits to Sunnydale," he said as she smiled warmly at them. "I have invited her to come and live here with us, as she has finished up her medical training and we could use a doctor around this place."

Introductions were made and those that had met her before hugged her and welcomed her. Buffy knew that Giles was going to have a doctor come but he hadn't mentioned it would be his ex girlfriend. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of Giles getting to have a semi normal life out of this situation too.

"And who are you?" Faith asked, turning to the other girl who stood on the porch who had been forgotten in all the excitement of Olivia's arrival.

"My name is Satsu… and I'm a slayer," she announced proudly. Faith eyed her up and down and the mention of her being a slayer caught Buffy's attention. She made her way over to the girl and stood in front of her, looking at her as Faith did.

"How did you find us?" Buffy asked.

"I met your friends, Angel and Spike. I still say it's weird that they are vampires with souls and that you used to date them both," she said as she looked at Buffy from head to toe and grinned.

"Is that what they are telling everyone? I did NOT date them both!" Buffy shouted in complete irritation at the announcement.

"You kinda did B," Faith chuckled.

"I… did… not… date… Spike!"

"You fucked him! Same thing if you ask me," Faith said with that devilish grin on her face. Buffy couldn't help but smile back at Faith.

"I forgot you consider fucking and dating the same thing!" she retorted which wiped the grin off of Faith's face. Before she could respond, Xander stepped in front of them.

"I apologize for them… they are just now learning how to not kill each other," he said as he smiled sheepishly at the young girl. "I'm Xander, it's nice to meet you," he announced holding out his hand for her to shake, which she did.

The others introduced themselves to her as well and the girls started to make their way back to where they were all standing.

"Where are you from?" Rona asked as she eyed the new girl up and down. Satsu didn't get a chance to reply as others jumped in to answer for her.

"Obviously she's from Japan," Dawn said a little under her breath.

"Or China," Ken threw in.

"Actually, I'm from Canada," Satsu said with a smile. Everyone starred at the small Asian girl in front of them, looking completely baffled. "My parents are from Japan, but I was born in Canada. We moved back to Japan only a couple of years ago," she explained to all of the intrigued faces. The girls started all talking at once again, excited about the arrival of a new slayer. Buffy found herself once again having to step up as the commander to get them all to settle down.

"Okay, you all will be living on the 3rd floor. There will be two to a room and Willow will be giving you your room assignments," Buffy said as she glanced at her red haired best friend. Willow didn't look thrilled and Buffy made a mental note to talk with her later about the events that had unfolded earlier with Kennedy. "Rona and Vi? Andrew will show you to your room, which is on the 4th floor with us," Buffy announced, getting a huge grin from the two girls. There was some grumbling from some of the other slayers about favouritism, but Buffy chose to ignore their comments as they all started to head toward Willow.

"Oh yeah! And as the first job for Team Buffy, you will be carrying all my awesome teams bags up to their rooms for them!" Faith announced loudly from her spot. She shot Buffy a huge grin and then grabbed her bag, dropping it at Buffy's feet. "After you princess," she remarked to the blonde slayer. Buffy rolled her eyes dramatically at Faith before bending down and picking up her bag.

"A deal is a deal," Buffy said through clenched teeth as she walked into the castle with Faith laughing behind her.

"You're such a bitch Faith," Buffy said playfully.

"Slut," Faith responded in the same tone. Buffy stopped on the stairs and turned to face Faith then with a shocked look. "Just sayin'… you're the one that dated both Spike and Angel!"

"I did not date Spike!" Buffy shouted as Faith continued to laugh as they made their way up the entire four flights of stairs.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, Team Buffy was gathered in the lounge that had been furnished prior to their arrival. Xander had managed to set up for the furniture to be delivered before they arrived and their boxes of main weapons had already been received as well. Andrew had made a quick trip to the local market in the vehicle that Giles had purchased online and one of the new watchers had made his way to the castle by that time as well.<p>

After a quick dinner that Andrew cooked up from them all, they were all relaxing in their makeshift bedroom for the week. Dawn, Kennedy, Vi, Rona and Andrew were all engrossed in a very important conversation about which cartoon character would win in a fight… Spongebob or Fred Flinestone. They were talking animatedly, raising their voices and shrieking as Dawn and Kennedy were sure that Fred would have the upper hand and Vi and Rona were dead set that Spongebob would come out on top. Andrew for his part kept trying to bring other characters into the scenario.

"Fred has all those rocks to throw!" Kennedy shouted at Vi.

"He's a sponge! I would just bounce right off of him!" she shouted back.

"No way! Beside, Spongebob can't live outside of the water!" Dawn yelled in Kennedy's defense.

"What about Optimus Prime! He's a transformer!" Andrew shouted over the group in an attempt to have his argument heard.

At this point Buffy decided her head was going to explode. She had been listening to the argument for some time now and couldn't help but feel like she was going through some sort of medieval torture. She stood without being noticed and made her way up the four flights of stairs and down the hallway to the room that was going to be hers.

She opened the door and flicked the light on, looking around and loving the quiet. The walls were thick in the castle, and although it was cold, the furniture was nice and the lighting was perfect. She looked around at the bed in the center of the wall and the nice dresser and comfortable chair that also occupied the space.

"Thinking of breaking the deal?" Faith's voice asked from behind her, causing her to jump a little bit. Buffy turned to the sound of her voice and smiled slightly.

"Just needed to get away from all the noise for a minute," she answered. She turned to walk out of the room but instead ran into Faith's arm that she had held up to stop her. "What?"

"I know this might seem like it's coming out of left field… but are you alright? You wanna talk about anything?"

"Why do you think something's wrong? I'm fine," Buffy lied. She knew that Faith could tell she was avoiding her, but she had hoped she could figure out what she was feeling and get a chance to talk to Willow about it before she had to give Faith an explanation.

"At first I thought it was the vamps leaving… but now I'm starting to think you are avoiding me…did I do something?" Faith asked quietly. She had sensed that something was different ever since that night that they went out to the club. She had tried to ignore it… tried to convince herself that she was just being paranoid. But no matter what she did she couldn't get the idea out of her head that Buffy was pissed at her for kissing her.

"What would you have done?" Buffy asked, trying to act coy. What had happened wasn't Faith's fault. Buffy had practically begged her to kiss her and it was Buffy that was having problems with it now. Buffy didn't want this to make things difficult for her and Faith, now that they were starting to get along.

She was confused. Before that night she had been happy with being friends with Faith. Now it seemed like all she could do was think about Faith in a much more friendlier way. She found herself watching her… the way she would smile and her dimples would show. The way she flipped her hair behind her shoulders and the way her ass fit perfectly into her pants. She couldn't look at her without feeling completely flustered and if she was honest with herself… completely turned on.

She had never had feelings like this for a woman, and she wasn't even sure if that was what was bothering her the most. This was Faith. Her once enemy. They had barely become friends and now all of a sudden she couldn't look at her lips without wanting to kiss them? It didn't make sense to Buffy and it was starting to make her feel like she was going insane.

"Look… I don't know if you remember that night that we went out in L.A…" Faith began.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Buffy interjected quickly. Faith stood still for a moment before she let out a breath and smiled from the corners of her mouth.

"Okay… you obviously don't remember… so don't worry about it then," Faith said quietly as she turned to walk out the door. "Night B."

Buffy watched Faith's ass as she walked down the hallway. When she was out of sight she turned back into the room that was hers and let her thoughts of Faith clutter her mind. She was lost in thought when Faith's raspy voice suddenly startled her again.

"You're a liar," Faith said from the doorway. Buffy turned to face her and put on her best confused face. Before she could say anything, Faith walked further into the room and continued. "I know you remember and I know you're pissed at me for kissing you… and I'm sorry I did it. I knew it was a mistake," Faith said, suddenly changing her approach and looking down at her feet. She backed away from Buffy quickly and turned back to the door. Buffy bit her tongue but couldn't stop from letting her words out.

"Faith… wait a minute!" Buffy shouted just before Faith was out the door. Faith turned so she could face Buffy and it almost wiped all the courage Buffy had from her. But she took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was a slayer… and if she could fight demons and vampires for a living, she could tell Faith what she was feeling. "You're right… I do remember."

"I knew it… I tried to tell ya B… but you wouldn't listen," Faith started to say as she shook her head from side to side.

"Faith, just shut up for a minute. I'm not mad at you for kissing me… it's actually… it's kind of the opposite," Buffy said in what could only be described as a whisper.

Faith's eyes jerked up to meet Buffy's. She could tell by that one look that Buffy was telling the truth. At first she was confused… after all, she had been secretly pining away for Buffy for years, but that was supposed to be her thing. Her heart jumped into her throat.

"What are you saying B?" Faith asked just as quietly. "Are you telling me that you… that you liked kissing me?"

Buffy didn't move for a good few seconds. The entire time Faith waited for a response, she was holding her breath. She had always wanted Buffy, from the moment she had met her all those years ago. Even through all the hatred and the fighting, she still had wanted her. She never in a million years however, thought she would be standing in a room with her wondering if Buffy wanted her back. Faith was so lost in her inner monologue that she didn't see Buffy nod her head in the affirmative at her question. Instead, she cocked her head to the side and looked at her sister slayer again.

"B?"

"I don't know why… I don't know what's wrong with me. I've never felt this way before!" Buffy said as she turned and made her way to her bed further into the room. Faith didn't move from her spot but instead stood there like she had been glued to the floor.

"Felt like what B?"

"Like I want to kiss a woman," Buffy said.

"Gonna be honest B… I didn't see that coming out of your mouth… like… ever," Faith said dumbstruck as she made her way to the chair and plopped down on it. Her eyes never left the blonde slayer. "But if we are being honest here… it isn't new for me."

Buffy's eyes looked up at Faith then, and she looked what Faith could only describe as surprised.

"Have you been with girls before?" Buffy asked quietly, like she was afraid of the answer.

"A couple… only really ever been one I wanted to be with," Faith said. Now it was her turn to look down and focus on her feet. She knew she was dangerously close to confessing how she felt about Buffy right then and there and she didn't want to let something like a crush get in the way of their friendship… not now… not after they had been doing so well.

"Me?" Buffy asked. Faith looked up to find Buffy standing in front of her now. She was within arms distance of her. Faith stood from the chair, causing Buffy to take a step back, but they were still close.

"If I say yes… are you going to hit me?" Faith asked with a little hint of joking in her voice. Buffy smiled at the question and took a step closer.

"No, I won't hit you Faith. I don't ever want to hit you again… I want that part of our lives to be over," Buffy said. Faith could now feel the warmth of Buffy's breath on her face and it was driving her insane.

"What do you want then?" Faith asked.

"I don't know for sure," Buffy responded immediately. "I have been confused for the past week because of how I'm feeling, but now that I'm standing here with you, talking about this, I suddenly am not so confused anymore," Buffy finished.

"Not confused is good," Faith said with a smile. Her dimples showed and it made Buffy's heart melt to see it. She inched forward a few inches more and their lips were just inches away from one another now. Buffy stopped and waited for Faith to say something.

"I think I know what will help me decide for sure," Buffy said with a little laughter in her voice.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

Buffy reached her arms up and put them around Faith's neck. Faith for her part put her hands on Buffy's hips and their lips met with force. It was a heated kiss, that deepened immediately. When they both broke for air, they kept their arms around each other, and looked deeply into each others eyes. Buffy smiled and Faith returned it.

"My mind is made up now," Buffy said. "I really like kissing you."

"Everyone likes kissing me B," Faith said with a laugh.

"Always so full of yourself, aren't you? Sometimes I wonder how you fit through the door with your head so big all the time," Buffy said giggling.

"B?"

"What?"

"Since you are my slave for the week… shut up and kiss me," Faith commanded.

"A deal is a deal," she responded. Buffy didn't hesitate this time, she pulled Faith in and their lips met once more, molding together like they were meant for one another.

From outside the door, Willow stood with her hand over Xander's mouth. Xander's eye was open wide and he was doing his best not to drool on Willow's hand. Their heads were peeking into the room while their bodies remained outside the door.

As the kissing continued inside the room, Willow pulled Xander back down the hallway, her hand still covering his mouth and she was stifling the laughter that wanted to come out. When they got down the flights of stairs and into the entry way to the castle, she finally let the laughter come out.

"That was so unexpected!" Xander said as tried to stop himself from replaying the image of the two slayers kissing in his mind. He had found that it wasn't working very well and he could tell by stern look Willow was giving him that she knew what he was thinking.

"I told you! I so called it!" she announced as she held out her hand to him. "You owe me 20 bucks!"

Xander reached into his pockets and pulled out two ten dollars bills, slapping them into Willow's hand that was outstretched.

"How did you know?" Xander asked.

"I told you, I saw it a mile away… all that tension all these years… had to be sexual," Willow said with a laugh. Xander still looked completely shocked by what he had witnessed and couldn't help but let his mouth fall open a little bit. Willow giggled once more and flung her arm around her best friend, as they made their way to the kitchen for a midnight snack.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's notes: This chapter has mention of rape and torture... just a warning.**

Chapter Eight

Andrew woke up when he felt a sharp pain in his neck. He tried to sit up but found that he was pinned down by an unknown body using him as a pillow. He twisted in such a way that caused him to wince in pain, and looked down to see Dawn fast asleep with her head on his stomach. As he tried to stand without waking her, she mumbled in her sleep and rolled off of him on her own, never once opening her eyes.

He took the opportunity to stand up and look at the clock on the wall. It was early… far earlier than he expected anyone other than maybe Giles to be awake. He stretched his arms in the air and stepped over Vi and Rona who were laying on the floor using one blanket to cover them, but were in each other's arms. Kennedy was stretched out on the couch with a blanket covering almost all of her face and the television was replaying the DVD menu over and over again.

He walked over and pushed the button to turn the television off. Glancing around the room he noticed that Buffy was no where to be seen. His mind replayed the events of the night before and he remembered Buffy sneaking away sometime before the movie. She must have never come back down.

"Figures she would go up to her room and not follow the deal," Andrew mumbled to himself as he rubbed his neck. Sleeping on the floor hadn't been his idea of a good night. He huffed to himself some more and made his way to the staircase, taking each stair one at a time, quietly as to not wake anyone on his way up to the 4th level, hoping to get into a shower before anyone had a chance to tell him he couldn't. He wasn't sure if that was part of the deal or not and he had been too afraid to ask.

As he got to the hallway, he started to make his way toward the bathroom, only to hear giggling coming from a room on the right. He glanced over at the room, noticing that the door was slightly cracked, just enough for him to peek inside. He leaned on the side of the wall with his eye looking through the gap. His eyes went wide with surprise at what he saw inside.

Buffy and Faith were standing in his line of sight. He could see them clearly standing there with their arms wrapped around each other and them both smiling.

"That was fun," Buffy said quietly. "Thanks for letting your slave stay in a bed last night."

"No problem B… it was my pleasure and it is your bed after all."

"Faith… last night was amazing… and don't get me wrong… I in no way want to stop… but… I just think…"

"You aren't ready for the others to know yet?" Buffy looked at Faith, a little surprised that she had said exactly what Buffy had been thinking. She nodded her head, a little embarrassed. What she was feeling for Faith was so new, and she wasn't quite ready to let the others find out about her new attraction to Faith. She really needed to have a conversation with Willow. "It's okay B… we can wait. You should get down there before they wake up and notice you aren't there," Faith said.

"I know, but I don't want to go yet," Buffy said in a babyish voice and pulling out her signature pout. Faith smiled and leaned forward, capturing Buffy's lips in her own for a heated kiss.

It was then that Andrew gulped in a huge breath of air, loud enough for the sound to be heard from inside the bedroom where the Chosen Two were kissing. But to make things even worse for the young watcher in training, he stumbled forward and went crashing through the bedroom door.

"Uh… good morning?" he announced as he stood from the floor where he had fallen. Faith and Buffy had pulled away from each other at this point and were standing a respectable distance away from each other. Buffy was smoothing out her clothes and looking down at the floor and Faith for her part was glaring… right at him. Andrew began to shake. "I'll just be going then," he said as he tried to make a run back through the open door.

Faith's slayer speed was too much for him however. She reached the door first, shoving it shut with her right hand and blocking him from exiting the room.

"Not so fast Andy…"

"I swear I didn't see anything!" he shouted closing his eyes and covering them with his hands, mostly out of fear but also in an attempt to make sure he didn't see anything else he shouldn't. "Please, just let me live!"

"Geez Andrew! Shut up already!" Buffy snapped as she too made her way over to his side. She still looked a little uneasy but was determined to find out just how long he had been standing outside the door.

"Why would you think I was going to kill you Andy boy?" Faith asked in a menacing tone. Andrew opened one eye and looked at the dark slayer.

"Because… of what… I saw… or what I didn't see… yeah, what I didn't see… I didn't see anything," Andrew reminded himself, although he was well aware that he had seen way more than he should have.

"You listen to me Andy... I'm not stupid… I know what you saw and I know that in about three seconds you are going to go running out of here shouting your mouth off about it," Faith said calmly which bothered Andrew more than he would like.

"I swear oh dark one! I won't say a word to anyone! Please oh please just don't kill me!" Andrew exclaimed as Faith got even closer to him and he covered his head with his arms and hands. At his plea Faith stopped moving and looked over at Buffy who shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright Andy… this is your first test of loyalty to me. You wanna stay alive? You don't say a fucking word to anyone about what you just saw! Ever! You got me?"

"I got it," Andrew said gulping, wondering if he was really going to get off that easy.

"Good… because if you say something and I find out about it, I will cut your tongue out and shove it so far up your ass…"

"Faith… I think he gets it," Buffy said as she noticed Andrew beginning to shake once more. "I don't want him to pee his pants on my new carpet," Buffy finished with a little smile. Faith backed up from Andrew then and immediately that smirk of hers was plastered on her face. "Go on… get out of here," Buffy motioned to Andrew toward the door.

He fumbled with the doorknob since his palms were sweating out of fear, but managed to get it open and quickly walked out of the room, making sure not to look back at the slayers. As he walked out the door, he heard one last exchange between them.

"At least we know he wasn't spying to be pervy… guy's totally gay after all," Faith said with a chuckle.

"Oh… so gay," Buffy replied with a giggle of her own.

* * *

><p>"So, I was thinking, we can't keep being called Team Buffy, that name implies we're her minions and doesn't strike fear into hearts of the <em>Vampyres<em>. I was thinking..." Andrew began.

"Andrew, we're not calling us Andrew's Angels! Nor anything with Andrew in it, I'd rather be the Power Rangers, or the Freak Ninja Turtles then Andrew's anything," Dawn interrupted.

"Ya, sorry Andy but you heard Buffy back in the hotel in LA. I'm the leader so I say we're Kennedy's Bitches and Ho's," Kennedy said as she smiled at her companions who were laughing in disbelief. A confused Andrew quickly spoke up.

"But I'm a guy."

"That's what you think," Kennedy snapped. Kennedy looked back at the boy who had a annoyed and distraught look on his face and saw that she went a bit too far with her last comment. So Kennedy decided upon herself to act the leader part like Buffy told her she was destined to do, and bumped shoulders with Andrew. "C'mon Andy, you know you wouldn't mind being my bitch." All the girls stole a glance and smiled at the joking act of kindness from Kennedy to show the boy that they were all family now. Andrew tried to be angry with Kennedy but couldn't as his frown turned upside down as he looked at her and playfully.

"Shut up."

"Awwwweeee! Ken and Andy sitting in a tree!" Dawn, Rona and Vi started to holler. But before either the blushing new watcher or Kennedy could respond, a voice came from behind them out of nowhere.

"Would you guys just shut up and hunt like your supposed to!" a shadowy figure yelled out. Without warning Vi let loose her war cry and charged forward with stake in hand, almost disappearing into the night with the shadowy figure.

Team Buffy suddenly got into a defensive position as they witnessed Vi flying through the air back at them, landing back first on one of the cemetery's street lamps. Kennedy quickly took the lead in the center of the group in front of Andrew with Dawn to her left and Rona to her right. Andrew was resting his crossbow on Dawn's shoulder, aiming at the shadows in front of them.

"Now that's better," the shadowy figure said as it walked towards team Buffy and revealed itself to be Buffy herself. "See what I mean when I told you that your blessing is also your curse?" Buffy asked as she walked to Vi, helped her up and walked back to her team.

"Buffy what are you doing here? You're not checking up on me are you?" Dawn asked like a daughter would ask her parent. Buffy smiled.

"No Dawn, I'm here to check up on ALL of you, not just my bratty sister." The two Summers women glared at each other for a few seconds before Buffy spoke to her group again. "This isn't a social outing, sure you guys are the best Slayers we have right now but were in new territory, which always gives the advantage to our enemies. So stay sharp and minimal communication while on the hunt."

Buffy turned her back to her group as she started to walk into the shadows again, but stopped midway and turned to face her team. "And there is nothing wrong with being team Buffy, I'm a living legend after all!" Then she walked off into the shadows once more.

With that, the 4 Slayers and one watcher gathered themselves and continued to scour the graveyard. Luckily for their sanity, the group heard piercing female screams. When the group of young heroes finally came to the site of the noise, the blood in every single one of their veins started to boil with disgust and rage. Right in front of them was a nest of about 10 vampires in a loose circle with a few barrels set ablaze for light. These vampires were tossing around 2 young, naked, bruised and bloodied, petrified and crying women, who looked barely out their teens. All the while one male vampire was feeding off a naked and barely alive young woman while sitting behind her on a slab of tombstone and violating her with his free hand.

"AAARRAACHHH!" A howling wail filled the air as a crossbow bolt suddenly was on the ground in front of the group of vampires. The group of undead monsters looked to the east to see who had slain one of their own. What they saw shocked them with humour. In their mind all they saw was some random black girl, a pale red head, a Latina piece of ass and scrawny brunette who were all running full speed ahead into their painful deaths.

One of the vampire's, the one who was feasting and violating his meal, three vamps from the right of what was now a line of about 9 vampires asked out loud,

"Where did that cross bolt come from?"

Suddenly Andrew appeared out from behind Rona and fired his crossbow, landing a bolt right into the crotch of the vampire who just spoke. As quickly as the line of monsters turned their attention to the vampire now on his knees, their attention turned back to the group of woman mere meters in front of them.

"Die you rapist mother fuckers!" Kennedy roared out right before the rest of her team screamed with fury as they collided into an undead wall.

Kennedy launched the first strike as she ducked right before she collided with the vampire in front of her and then thrust upwards, landing an uppercut to the face of her enemy which sent him flying backwards into a mausoleum door. She turned to her next victim but not before glancing at Andrew.

"Andrew, the girls!"

Rona was the second to strike her enemy as she continued to run full speed and bull rushed right through the undead line, running over two vampires as she tackled a third into a tree. As Rona punched a hole through their enemy's line, Dawn went up against a pretty husky vampire wielding a baseball bat. The vampire got the first hit on Dawn with the bat as she had the reach advantage wielding her piece of wood. Unluckily for the female vampire, Dawn raised her hand to the left beside her head and caught the bat mid swing, eyes locked on the her prey without even flinching. While her enemy was still in shock, Dawn open palm struck the baseball bat with her free hand, breaking it jaggedly in two. She then spun around and staked the still stunned female vampire through the heart with the broken bat.

Dawn then saw another fiend trying to sneak just behind her in the corner of her eye. Dawn leapt backward, crouched, spun in a circle and swept her enemy off of his feat and staked him barely a second after the vampire fell on his back. Just before Dawn was ready for her next opponent, she spotted a vampire trying to stop Andrew from releasing the girls that were supposed to be the vampire's meals. With a cry of anger, Dawn threw her makeshift stake right into and almost through the back of Andrew's opponent's kneecap, causing the vampire to scream in pain and leave herself open for attack. Andrew wasted no time in ramming the cross bolt he was trying to load before his enemy appeared before him, right into the undead fiend's heart, turning the hunter into the hunted.

Vi was now taking the most enemies at once, and loving it. Enjoying abusing her prey and not going for the kill. After sending a vampire flying into a tombstone with a standing karate side kick, Vi ran to the vampire on her left, jumped off of his knee and delivered a flying knee right to the side of the vampire's jaw, knocking it unconscious. As Vi landed to her feet, she was suddenly struck in the face by the vampire she sent flying into a tombstone just moments before. Vi's head snapped to the side, and then snapped back to looking at her new target with a split lip, a smile and a look of insanity on her face. She blocked the right hook that was aimed for the side of her head, thrust forward and kneed the male vampire in the balls. With a grunt, Vi then hoisted her prey in the air over her head with both hands, still with a smile and look of insanity on her face. She let loose a feral scream as she pulled her enemy downwards and heard a satisfying bone crunching snap, as she almost tore her opponent in half over her knee. Not fully satisfied, Vi hoisted her broken prey in the air once more, turned around to see a barrel full of fire, and dropped the monster face first into a firery and painful death.

"Burn you piece of shit!" she yelled.

"Yeah baby! Give them hell!" Rona roared to Vi as she stepped into her opponent and judo threw her head first into a spiky tree branch, turning her prey to ash.

By this time Kennedy and Dawn were fighting the remaining of the group back to back. Using each others mass and momentum to form their own blocks, counters, and strikes. The two looked very similar to another two certain slayers. Unfortunately, Dawn eventually moved to her right, without covering Kennedy's back. Kennedy was punched in the kidney from behind by a fist aimed for Dawn and lurched forwards a few steps in pain. As Dawn moved in front of Kennedy's side to defend her, one of the remaining vampires turned to ash as a crossbow bolt appeared on top of the grass. Kennedy squinting in pain, looked around Dawn's body to see Andrew a few feet away, holding a crossbow along his left arm and trigger pulled with one hand, as the bow was held steadily at his chest. Andrew's right arm was busy under the left arm pit of a naked girl who was obviously dying and barely conscious.

Andrew quickly dropped his ranged weapon, scooped up the dying woman, and ran towards a tree where he hid the other two naked women. He dropped his cargo gently into the arms of the two naked women quickly pulling out his cell phone and dialing 911.

"Hello I'm at McGullivan's graveyard and I found three girls who look like they've been raped… one is hurt pretty bad. I need an ambulance," he spoke into the phone. After the call ended, he put his phone in his pocket and pulled out a small baggie of crushed herbs and a few band aids from his jacket. He rubbed some of the herbs on the one of the multiple sets of puncture wounds on the now unconscious woman's naked body and chanted.

The other two women watched in amazement as two puncture marks slowly closed shut and new skin appeared in its place. Andrew continued to do this with all of the herbs he had on all three of the girls, trying to stop the bleeding on all of them. When he finished, he without a thought took off his jacket and shirt, handing it to the two conscious naked women, and took a quick glance towards his companions.

Andrew witnessed his friends slowly circling around the only vampire left who was starting to get up, all the while bleeding from his crotch. All 4 Slayers quickly closed the gap between themselves and the vampire and as soon as he rose to his feet. They took turns punching him towards each other while cursing. Finally when the vampire couldn't take anymore and fell to the ground, the Slayers started to kick the crap out of their prey mercilessly. Before Dawn was about to stake the bloody and disfigured vampire, Kennedy stopped her.

"No wait!" she shouted. Dawn looked at her sister slayer confused. "This one isn't ours to kill." Kennedy hoisted the broken vampire by the scruff of his jacket and dragged him towards Andrew and the women, with the rest of the slayers following. Kennedy dropped the vampire by the feet of the huddled women who were wearing Andrew's clothes, and looked the two directly in the eye.

"Dawn, see if you can find their clothes... this piece of shit tried to take everything you are away from you." Kennedy said to the women as she took her stake out of her back pocket, grabbed Andrew's stake out of his back pocket and kneeled in front of them. She offered them each a stake tapping the vampires chest while finishing her thought, "take it back."

The two girls looked at each other in confusion before their faces contorted with rage, anger and disgust. They looked at the source of their misery and both screamed as they shoved the stakes through their assailant's chest.

"Here's a top and some jeans, Vi, help me dress the unconscious one," Dawn said as she came back to her team and started to dress the naked and unconscious woman with Vi's help. When the sudden sound of sirens could be heard in the distance, Kennedy gently put her hands on each of the two other women's shoulders.

"You're going to be alright now. I wouldn't mention what happened to anyone though unless you want them to think you're crazy." Kennedy's gaze suddenly fell upward, past the women she was talking to as she heard voices of who were most likely the paramedics. She looked up at her comrades. "C'mon guys, lets go." Just as team Buffy was about to leave the 3 women to their aide, the blonde one reached out to grab Kennedy's wrist.

"Wait, who are you people?" she asked in a shaky voice. Kennedy looked down at the women and smiled. To Kennedy's left stood Dawn placing her jacket around a shivering Andrew's shoulders. To Dawn's right stood an appreciative Andrew with his crossbow resting on top of Dawn's jacket over his right shoulder. On Kennedy's right stood Vi, arms crossed and to Vi's right stood Rona leaning on Vi's shoulder with her arm.

"We're the Slayers, second coming." Kennedy responded and looked up once more after she felt a tiny flash of light. She then started to walk off with her family at her side.

"Mistress! Mistress! The rumours are true!" a very out of not breath vampire with a digital camera said as he stopped and bowed before his master.

"I know Trevor, Nathaniel has just told me the same thing and I have had an interesting conversation with some shape shifting ghost who claims to be some kind of evil of the first kind," a female voice suddenly spoke out.

"What are your orders my lady?" a tall and fit looking vampire with a thin moustache and goatee covered in full French knight plate armour asked. The woman who sat on her throne arose with the poise of a leader.

"Funny Dunois, that the forces that guide and shape us call upon me again to wage war, but this time for the opposite side," the woman said as she looked toward her general and morphed her face to that of a vampires visage. The female vampire looked back at the many faces in her thrown room and spoke, "For now, we watch and plan. SOON I WILL ONCE AGAIN RID MY KIND OF THIS NEW THREAT FOREVER!". With that the female's vampire's room was filled with cheers and applause, as Trevor handed over the digital camera to Dunois to inspect. Dunois then looked in the camera's archive and found what he was looking for. The first Slayers and one topless boy that will be the first to fall under his feet.

"I just don't understand!" Willow said in a hushed but harsh tone as Kennedy paced around the bedroom. "What changed in a week?"

* * *

><p>Kennedy had returned from patrol earlier that night and Willow had managed to convince her to stay the night in her room, despite knowing she was supposed to be sleeping in the lounge with the rest of Team Buffy due to the bet. It wasn't lost on her that she had to convince her girlfriend to come and spend the night with her.<p>

The past week had been hard for them both. Willow knew she had been preoccupied with duties of starting the coven and helping out with the move, but she was sure that once they got to Scotland, things would go back to normal between her and her girlfriend. But it seemed like once they got there, things only got worse.

First Kennedy told her in front of everyone that she thought that she should live in a different room. Now, the first night that they had alone together in over a week, they couldn't even be together for longer than fifteen minutes without it turning into a fight.

"Nothing's changed! I just want to spend time with my friends! You don't see me going all crazy every time you want to hang with the Scoobies do you?" Ken retorted. She was biting her tongue because she didn't want to keep fighting with the witch, but she also knew that there was no stopping it now.

She had tried to avoid the fight… making every excuse she could to not stay the night with Willow. She had gotten home from a tough patrol. Seeing those women abused like that had bothered her more than she thought it would. The last thing she wanted was to be fighting with her girlfriend.

"I know that, I just thought you might want to spend a little time with me is all!" Willow shouted back. Kennedy took a deep breath and tried to regain her composure a little bit.

"I do want to spend time with you…"

"Doesn't seem like it from my end," Willow interrupted. The comment immediately brought Kennedy back into a defensive mode.

"What do you want from me? You were the one that was avoiding me all last week… always too busy for me… always something more important going on!"

"I wasn't avoiding you! I was doing what had to be done!" Willow shouted in anger.

"Maybe so… but at night you could have come upstairs instead of spending the night downstairs sleeping at the table. I'm a slayer now…" Kennedy started.

"Oh… I see… you're a slayer now… I wouldn't understand because I'm not a slayer!"

"That's not what I was going to say! Can't you just listen to me!"

"No! That's exactly what you think! I'm not a slayer, so that automatically makes you better than me!"

"What the hell are you talking about? I never said that! Stop putting words in my fucking mouth!"

"Admit it! That's what you think!" Willow shouted. Kennedy threw her hands up in anger.

"Fuck this… I'm out of here! I can't talk to you like this!" She stormed out of the room then, slamming the door on her way out.

Meanwhile, Andrew awoke in his bed. He knew that he was supposed to be downstairs with the rest of Team Buffy, but after the night he had before sleeping on the floor, he thought it would be best if he just tiptoed up the stairs and crashed in his own room. He was sure that no one would notice… especially Faith. She hadn't been seen since after patrol and either had Buffy. Andrew knew that could only mean one thing… she was occupied for sure.

The sound of shouting is what stirred him awake. He sat up slowly and looked around the dimly lit room for a clock, only to find that he didn't have on in there. He tried to lay back down, but the sounds of Willow and Kennedy arguing in the room across the hall kept him from falling back to sleep.

"Guess I could go get something to eat," Andrew said to himself as he stood up and slipped his feet in his slippers and threw on his red robe that he had picked out at the store. He glanced at himself in the mirror, proud of his appearance.

"You look just like Hugh Hefner!" he announced to himself. "Now if only everyone would realize you liked girls," he muttered as he made his way out the door. He shuffled his feet quietly down the hall, making sure to be extra quiet when passing Buffy's room just in case the slayers were inside. He didn't want a repeat of this morning when he had stumbled upon them.

As he made his way to the end of the hall, he noticed a light on in a room on his left. Dawn's room. He shook his head and smiled to himself, wondering if she too had managed to avoid sleeping on the floor for the night. He walked up to the door and lightly knocked on it.

"Who is it?" Dawn's voice asked from behind the door in a whisper.

"It's Andrew," he whispered back. "Can I come in?"

"I… I guess so," Dawn hesitated. Andrew slowly turned the handle to the door and opened it just enough so he could fit his body through it. He turned and closed it behind him and took a look around.

Her room was similar to his, with the exception of the girly clothes laying around on the couch and dresser. He smiled at her lack of tidiness and made his way further into the room, still hearing the shouting coming from down the hall.

"Do you hear that? What do you think they are fighting about?" Andrew asked, as he made his way over to the bed that Dawn had now sat up in. The covers were still tightly wrapped around her but he could tell she hadn't been sleeping. The arguing had obviously been keeping her up as well.

"Probably about how Ken hasn't been spending time with her… at least that's what it sounds like," Dawn said from where she was sitting. She kept her eyes on him the entire time as he sat down on the very edge of her bed on top of the covers. "Did it wake you?"

"Yeah… my room is right across the hall."

"Why aren't you sleeping in the lounge like you are supposed to?" Dawn questioned.

"Why aren't you?"

"Figured Faith crashed early since I didn't see her when we got back," Dawn replied. She left out of the part about how she had skipped out on the slumber party also because she was a little… frustrated… after the patrol.

She knew that Faith had always talked about feeling like this after slaying… hungry and horny is what she always said. She had always thought it was just Faith being Faith since Buffy had never mentioned it to her. But now that she too had slayer abilities, she was finding that maybe Buffy just wasn't as vocal about it as Faith was. Dawn definitely was feeling both H's right about now and she knew that the only chance she had was to scratch her own itch. There were no acceptable boys around and she couldn't stand the horny feeling much longer.

"Me too," Andrew responded to Dawn's statement, jumping Dawn out of her thoughts. The sudden slamming of a door and loud footsteps followed his statement and they both glanced at Dawn's closed door as the footsteps passed. "So… what were you doing?"

"Nothing!" Dawn responded defensively. "Just… you know, reading," she covered as she picked up a magazine laying next to her on the bed.

"Where are Vi and Rona? Are they in the lounge or do you think they went to their room too?" he asked. Dawn laughed at the question, knowing very well that they were locked away in their room probably moaning each other's names.

"I'm sure they are together in their room, if you know what I mean," Dawn said with a smile. Andrew looked at her puzzled for a minute, before he caught on to her meaning.

"Oh! Really? What does being a slayer automatically make you gay or something?" he asked, mostly to himself.

"I'm not!" Dawn responded quickly.

"You are like the only one then!"

"Buffy isn't either," Dawn answered. Andrew jerked his head up to look at her then. He hid the fear from his face and smiled.

"I guess that's true," he said, making sure not to say anything more. "Everyone thinks I am," he finished the sentence, looking back down at his slippers on his feet. Dawn laughed out loud.

"Aren't you?" she questioned. When he looked up at her again, she saw the hurt in his eyes and for some reason, it made her sad. She hadn't meant to upset him, she was just asking an honest question.

"Why does everyone think that?" Andrew asked in a high pitched voice, obviously irritated at Dawn's previous question.

"I don't know… the things you say… all the cooking and the cleaning…"

"Men cook! And they clean! Doesn't make me gay!" Dawn looked at him then, wondering why he was so defensive.

"Are you sure? I mean… have you ever even kissed a girl?" She saw the same look of sadness in his eyes then but he didn't look away from her.

"No, but I know I like girls… I think about girls when I…"

"Don't finish that!" Dawn shouted before Andrew could finish the sentence. "So you really have never kissed a girl?" she asked after a minute of awkward silence.

"Not really… well there was this one time… I was at a comic book convention and I tripped over someone's feet and fell into this girl, and our lips touched, but just for a second," Andrew dwindled off in his story, looking ashamed. "She slapped me," he finished.

Dawn studied his face then as he sat there on the edge of her bed. She wasn't quite sure what got into her, but she slowly started moving closer to him, until she was sitting right next to him. He wasn't looking at her, clearly he was embarrassed and she still couldn't shake that feeling she had inside.

Before she knew what she was doing and had a chance to stop her inner thoughts, she reached over the several feet, pulling Andrew by the collar of his red robe and to her face. Her lips connected right on top of his, and he didn't move, stunned by her advance.

He was in complete and total shock as her lips met his and his eyes opened wide, only to see hers closed tightly. He gave himself a pep talk in his head in a quick second and closed his eyes, slowly relaxing his body and allowing his lips to move against hers.

The kiss lasted only briefly, but it was enough for Andrew to be sure. He was 100 % not gay. Dawn pulled back from him and had a very stern look on her face.

"If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you," she said very strongly. She still held onto him by his robe collar and he couldn't have moved if he had wanted to. He swallowed then, his throat feeling dry and his head feeling clouded and nodded at her, not missing the fact that he now had two secrets he had to keep from everyone. And secret keeping was not his strong suit.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Kennedy had spent the entire night wandering around the castle. After her argument with Willow she had stormed off and found her way to the basement, where Xander had set up most of their training equipment for the time being. She spent a good couple of hours punching away at the bag, taking out all of her frustrations.

It didn't help, at least not as much as she had wanted it to. Instead it just wound her up more. She knew that the fight she had with Willow was just the beginning. She could feel her relationship with the witch slipping away since the fall of Sunnydale. She had found herself wanting to learn more about her calling as a slayer, and even though she hadn't meant to, she had let her girlfriend take a back seat.

Her mind was wandering with these thoughts as she made her way back up the stairs and to the kitchen early the next morning. She was hoping that by going as early as she was, that no one would find her there and try to talk to her. But when she walked in the room, she found that she wasn't the only one that had the same idea.

"Oh, hey… couldn't sleep?" Dawn asked from where she was sitting at the counter. Kennedy shrugged her shoulders and pulled out the seat next to her friend. "Me either."

"How was the slumber party last night?" Kennedy asked, in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

"There wasn't one. Faith was mysteriously missing last night so everyone used that as an excuse for a good night sleep in a bed," Dawn explained. "Heard you fighting with Willow last night… want to talk about it?"

"No," Kennedy replied quickly. She let a moment of silence wash over them before she took a breath and attempted to change the subject. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"I don't know, I think it was that patrol last night. It really got to me… seeing those girls like that. I mean, I know that Buffy has always been a slayer, but I guess I never realized that being a slayer meant you would see things like that."

"At least we were able to save them," Kennedy responded, standing from the seat and moving toward the refrigerator to look for something to eat. She scanned with her eyes but didn't see anything promising inside. She closed it and leaned back on the door. "But, yeah, it was awful," she said a little more quietly.

Before Dawn had a chance to respond, Vi and Rona entered the kitchen, whispering and giggling amongst themselves, almost oblivious to the others in the room.

"Morning," Dawn said cheerfully, with a smile on her face when she saw her two friends. Seeing them together just confirmed her suspicions that there was a lot more going on between them than friendship.

"Oh… hey. We didn't expect to see anyone up this early," Vi said as she shrugged Rona's arm off from around her waist. Kennedy and Dawn glanced at each other and laughed out loud.

"Chill out you two… we know that you are getting down and dirty with each other… you don't have to hide it from us," Kennedy said, finding an apple in a bowl next to the fridge and taking a bite of it.

"You… you do?" Vi asked, obviously surprised.

"Oh thank God! I wasn't sure I was going to be able to hide it much longer," Rona said, sighing in relief. Dawn smiled back at them.

"I'm happy for you guys! You seem happy together," she said as they made their way into the room more, Rona instantly wrapping her arm around Vi's waist again. They took seats across the counter from Dawn, while Kennedy jumped up onto the counter between them, still chewing away at her apple.

"What were you guys talking about when we came in?" Vi asked.

"Last night… how horrible it was seeing those girls in that sort of shape," Kennedy responded.

"Oh I know! I couldn't get their faces out of my head when I was trying to fall asleep last night!" Vi exclaimed. Rona reached out with her hand and rubbed her back lightly.

"Is that what it is always going to be like here? Vamps that are perverted and disgusting?" Rona asked the group.

"I sure hope not," Dawn answered.

* * *

><p>Buffy opened her eyes and let them adjust to the bright morning light. She didn't even have to look over to her right to know that the soft, rhythmic breathing that was next to her was Faith.<p>

Buffy smiled when she remembered last night. Faith had been different than she had expected, considering all she ever talked about was sex. But that was the old Faith… this Faith was one that understood Buffy wasn't quite ready to take that next step. Instead, she had settled for some heavy duty kissage and even agreed to stay and cuddle with the blonde. It was unexpected to say the least, but definitely a night she would never forget.

Faith twitched slightly as she woke up with Buffy in her arms, shaking Buffy from her thoughts.

"Mmmm… morning," Faith muttered into the blonde hair next to her, with her eyes still closed. She couldn't believe that she had stayed the night with Buffy… in her bed… kissing her until they fell asleep. It was like a dream come true.

"Did you sleep alright?" Buffy asked as she moved in Faith's arms so she could look at the dark slayer as her eyes opened for the first time that morning. Faith smiled brightly when her eyes met Buffy's, causing Buffy's smile to grow even larger than it already was.

"Slept like a baby," Faith responded, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on Buffy's lips. Faith wasn't sure exactly where they were going with this whole thing, but she had made the decision last night as she watched Buffy sleep in her arms that she was going to do everything in her power to make things work between them.

"I'm glad," Buffy giggled and leaned forward, kissing Faith once more. Her kiss was deeper and more passionate and Faith knew right then and there that Buffy was feeling the exact same way.

Before the kiss could turn into much more, Buffy's cell started to ring from the night stand next to her bed.

"You should answer it," Faith said as she pulled back from the kiss and tucked a stray strand of hair behind the blonde slayer's ear.

"I don't wanna," Buffy pouted as the phone continued to ring. Faith chuckled at the pout and leaned forward, kissing her once more before nodding her head toward the ringing phone. "Ahhh… fine!" Buffy exclaimed as she rolled over and grabbed the phone, flipping it open. "Hello?"

"Hello Buffy, just calling to check in," Angel said from the other line. Buffy mouthed to Faith that it was Angel and Faith smiled, placing one last kiss on Buffy's forehead before pushing the covers back and standing up. She smiled warmly and mouthed that she was going to get them coffee before exiting the room and making her way down the hall toward the kitchen.

"Hi Angel, how are things going?"

"So far so good, we have already sent one slayer to you that we found, did she make it?"

"Yeah, she was here just when we arrived… she's already fitting right in," Buffy explained, even though she wasn't quite sure she was telling the truth. She hadn't really spent a lot of time with the new slayers, especially the new girl that had just arrived.

"Good to hear that, we have come across several others and will be sending over four more as soon as Giles has the funds wired to us," Angel explained.

"Okay… is that why you called, because don't get me wrong, I love that you are keeping us in the loop and everything but it's kind of early for a business call," Buffy said, wondering if there was a more important reason for his call.

"I guess I just wanted to check in with you, see how you are now with the move and everything," Angel explained.

"Things are… good… great actually," Buffy explained as she thought about the woman who she had just spent the night in bed with.

"You sound happy, I'm glad."

"I am happy… I feel like things are finally going to go right in my life this time," Buffy said.

"I miss you," Angel said, practically in a whisper. Buffy felt a tightness in her chest as she listened to him brood from thousands of miles away.

"Angel…" she started.

"Look, I know that we didn't really talk about… us, and that me leaving may have made it impossible for there to ever be an us…"

"There is no us… not anymore," Buffy interrupted.

"Not right now, I know that… but there is always someday," Angel replied, sounding more hopeful than Buffy would have liked.

"Look… it's early, and I really don't want to get into this right now," Buffy said as she stood from the bed and started to pace around her room. She wasn't ready to tell him what was going on with her and Faith… she wasn't even quite sure she knew what was going on. All she knew is that she had feelings for the dark slayer, and she probably had for some time now. She needed a little bit more time to figure out exactly what was going on in her own head before she tried to explain it to Angel.

"I get it… I just wanted to say hello and give you an update. Could you have Giles get in touch with either Spike or myself as soon as possible so I can make arrangements for the girls we have found?" Angel asked, quickly picking up on her hesitance to talk with him.

"I will tell him as soon as I see him," Buffy responded, thankful that Angel was going to cut the conversation short. "Oh and Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"I did NOT date Spike! If I find out you are telling and more of those girls that I dated you both, it won't be pretty," Buffy said in the most serious tone she could find. She heard Angel chuckle on the other end of the phone.

"I'll mention it to Spike," Angel replied, still chuckling.

"Thank you… take care of yourself Angel."

"Will do… goodbye," Angel replied before hanging up the telephone.

Buffy continued to pace around the room for a solid five minutes before she set the phone down on the bed. She had just had the most wonderful night… the best she had in a long time. She knew that things were moving fast between her and Faith and that thought alone made her nervous. Buffy made the decision right then and there that she would have to talk to Willow about what was happening… if anyone would understand it would be her.

So she threw on some sweatpants and a tank top and made her way down the hall to Willow's room, hoping to find the red-haired witch in there alone. Buffy lifted her hand to knock on the door but before she could she heard soft sobbing coming from inside the room.

"Will? Are you alright?" Buffy asked softly from outside the closed door. She heard Willow sniffle but there was no response from her best friend. Buffy took it upon herself to turn the handle then, noticing it was unlocked and made her way slowing into the room.

She found Willow sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed with her hands covering her face. Her red hair was a mess and by the number of tissues balled up at her feet, Buffy could tell she had been crying for some time. She closed the door and made her way to her best friends side instantly.

"What happened Will? Talk to me," Buffy urged as she wrapped her arms around Willow and pulled her close. Willow began to cry even more at the feeling of Buffy's arms around her. She couldn't bring herself to stop crying long enough to explain to Buffy just what had happened last night. "Willow?"

Willow finally managed to calm herself enough after a good couple of minutes of hard crying and wipe her tears from her cheeks. She took the tissue that Buffy offered her and wiped her nose, balling it up and adding it to the pile that she had spent the night creating.

"I think Kennedy and I are over," Willow said in a squeaky tone, sounding more like a child who had lost her puppy than a woman who was having relationship troubles. "I knew that things would be different but I never thought it would be like this."

"I don't understand, I mean I know you two haven't been spending a lot of time together but I thought that was just because you were both so busy," Buffy questioned and stated all at one.

"I don't really know what it is, but something is different between us. We got in this huge argument last night and she stormed out of here… she didn't come back," Willow explained, sniffling once more and grabbing yet another tissue to wipe her nose.

"Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to talk to her?" Buffy offered.

"No!" Willow responded quickly. "I need to talk with her myself… see if we can work this out or not first." Buffy nodded not convinced.

"I'm sorry Wills… I know you care about her…"

"I do care about her… and I know she cares about me. Which makes this even more confusing!" Willow stopped to think about the fight they had last night and tears pooled in her eyes once again. "She implied that I won't understand because I'm not a slayer," Willow finished.

Buffy heard the words come out of Willow's mouth and held her breath. She remembered having a conversation similar to that with Willow before… and it didn't end well. Buffy didn't want to go back down the road with the red-haired witch.

"They had patrol last night… did something happen?" Buffy asked, suddenly wondering if that was the reason Kennedy was so out of sorts.

"She mentioned it had been a rough one, but she said everyone was fine… no one got injured," Willow said quietly.

Buffy was relieved to hear that her team had made it back safely. She had gone out with them at first to keep an eye on them but found herself distracted when Faith cornered her in one of the many dark cemeteries and started a hot and heavy make out session with her. As soon as things got too heated, they made their way back to the castle and stayed there the rest of the night.

"I should go check in with them and see what happened… I'll let you know if I find out anything that might help you," Buffy said, standing from her spot. She didn't want to leave Willow there by herself, but she knew that she had to check in. Willow smiled at her and even though it was forced, Buffy could tell that she had helped just by being there and being a shoulder to lean on.

"Thanks Buffy, I feel a little better now, and I think I will just take a hot shower," Willow said as she too stood from the floor.

"If you need anything, anything at all, come find me and we'll talk, okay?"

"Okay," Willow said as she hugged Buffy one more time. Buffy hugged her back tightly and silently hoped that Willow and Kennedy would work everything out. Buffy knew it was hard for Willow to get into a relationship after Tara, and as much as she had been hesitant about her friend dating the young potential slayer when their relationship first started, she saw how much it helped Willow. She wasn't sure how Willow would take losing another lover.

But she didn't say anything, she merely plastered a smile on her face and walked out the door, heading down the hallway and down the many stairs, making her way to the kitchen. She could tell by the tingle in her spine that Faith was there as she got closer and her stomach started to flutter at the thought of the dark slayer.

Buffy stopped at the entryway of the kitchen at the sound of Faith's raspy voice. She listened to the conversation that she had come in the middle of.

"Jeez, sounds pretty bad. Anything unusual about these vamps? You know, different from others you've faced?" Faith asked the group of girls who were sitting at the counter munching on cereal.

They had just brought her up to speed about their patrol the night before, and how awful it had been to see those girls raped and tortured like that.

"Seemed like normal vamps to me," Kennedy said after swallowing a mouthful of Captain Crunch. "Nothing stuck out as peculiar."

"It was just so disturbing… seeing what they had done to those girls," Vi said quietly from her seat.

"That's the shitty part about this job… seeing all the death and destruction night after night. Sometimes it gets to you, ya know? Those girls are lucky you were there to save them last night," Faith said, sounding much wiser than Buffy or any of the others had ever remembered her to sound. "But that's the life of a slayer."

"I knew that being a slayer came with consequences, I guess I just didn't know all the awful things that Buffy saw night after night. Makes me feel bad that I was always so hard on her for not taking me with her when I was younger," Dawn said.

"She was just trying to protect you Squirt. She knew you could look after yourself fighting wise, but it's the other stuff she was trying to shield you from. You're her sister… she loves you," Faith explained and Dawn nodded and smiled.

Dawn watched as Faith continued to talk to Kennedy, Vi and Rona about being a slayer and couldn't help but think something was different about her this morning. She had known Faith for a long time… longer than any of the other new slayers. Faith was never this open and talkative to people. But before Dawn could ponder the situation more, Andrew came walking in shuffling his feet through the side door of the kitchen.

"Morning Andy… what do you say about making us some food?" Faith asked as kindly as she could. He looked up, a little surprised that she was asking him instead of just telling him and cocked his head to the side at her question.

"You mean I have a choice?" he asked.

"Actually, no you don't, but I thought I would make it sound like you did," Faith said with a smile. The girls chuckled with her and Andrew rolled his eyes as he made his way to where the pans were kept in the cabinet.

"And here I thought I would be the first one up and get to watch cartoons," he muttered to himself.

"Cheer up Andy… this is your job as a watcher, looking out for us slayers," Kennedy remarked as she flung her arm around his shoulders. He looked up and managed to catch Dawn's eye before quickly looking away.

"Fine," he said quickly. "I can whip up some pancakes and eggs if that's alright?" he asked no one in particular. Kennedy watched him as he started to get the ingredients he needed from the refrigerator and cabinets. He was acting different than usual, not his normal geeky self.

She turned back to look at the other for help, but noticed that Vi and Rona were already out of the kitchen and Dawn was standing with her back against the wall. Their eyes met and Dawn merely shrugged her shoulders. Kennedy removed her arm from Andrew's shoulders and exited out the same door that Andrew had previously come out of, off to find Vi and Rona… anything to keep herself from running into Willow alone.

Dawn knew that as soon as Kennedy left she and Andrew would be alone. Their kiss the night before had taken them both by surprise, and she knew that was what was bothering the young man as he worked diligently away in the kitchen that morning. She sucked in a breath and made her way over to him, careful not to get too close.

"I didn't tell anyone," Andrew blurted out before Dawn had a chance to say anything.

"Oh… well, good."

Dawn was a little thrown by his quick comment and she decided it might be best if she gathered her thoughts before she tried to talk to him about the situation any more. She turned to leave out the same door Kennedy had but before she could she heard Andrew's voice once more.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?" he asked. Dawn spun around on her toes with a element of surprise smeared across her face. "I mean… if you don't want to that's fine too," Andrew said, turning back to the bowl he was mixing in.

"Look Andrew…" Dawn began. The watcher junior turned to look at her when she started to talk and she could see nothing but hope and desire flash in his eyes. She was in way over her head now. "Just because we kissed doesn't mean that we have to date," Dawn explained, trying her best not to hurt his feelings. She didn't want things to be weird between them… mostly because she couldn't risk him getting upset and telling anyone about what had happened.

"I know… it's a forbidden love isn't it? Like Anakin and Queen Amadala in Star Wars right?" Andrew asked, the geekiness in him coming back out. Dawn looked at him completely confused. "Or like Romeo and Juliet?"

"Please just don't tell anyone," Dawn muttered as she turned away from him once more and headed toward the exit. She walked out without looking back at him.

"One day I shall make you my queen," Andrew said to no one but himself, before turning back and starting on everyone's breakfast with a smile on his face.

* * *

><p>Faith made her way back up the stairs with two cups of coffee in her hands. She had managed to slip out of the kitchen with both of them, without anyone noticing she was holding two and without any questions. The girls had obviously been distracted by the events from the patrol the night before, and it made Faith wonder if they were ready to go on patrols on their own yet.<p>

She entered Buffy's room and pushed the door closed with her right foot.

"Brought you coffee B," Faith said as she set the cup down on the dresser. Buffy approached her, wrapping her arms around Faith's waist and looking up, placing a sweet kiss on the dark slayer's lips. "I could get used to this," Faith said when Buffy pulled back.

"You better get used to it," Buffy said with a giggle, after taking her cup of coffee and settling back on the bed, resting her back on the headboard. Faith stood where she was and sipped her coffee slowly. She couldn't believe in just the short amount of time how things had changed between them. And even though she wasn't quite sure where this was going, she knew that she didn't want it to end.

"I heard you talking to the girls downstairs, something happen on patrol last night?" Buffy asked, shaking Faith out of her thoughts.

"Guess it was a rough one… the vamps had three girls with them, looked like they had beaten and raped them Ken said." Faith filtered the information she had gathered from Kennedy to the golden slayer. Buffy just listened to the details without really saying anything.

"I remember the first patrol I went on like that," Buffy said. Faith popped her eyebrows up, urging Buffy to continue with the story. She walked over the bed and sat next to her while she continued. "I was about 16 at the time, and it bothered me for weeks after. I had gotten used to being a slayer then, but I don't think I had ever understood before that patrol just how important being a slayer was," she finished.

"Saving lives is what we do B… I think the newbies found that out first hand last night," Faith responded.

"I heard you talking to them in the kitchen…" Buffy started. She put her cup of coffee down and took the one out of Faith's hand and set it down next to hers as well. "Hearing you take charge like that and be so understanding about what they were feeling… kind of a turn on," Buffy finished with a huge smile on her face.

"Oh yeah… a turn on huh?" Faith asked as she wiggled her eyebrows and rolled so she was on her side facing the blonde in bed. She pulled at Buffy's hips, pulling her down so her face was in line with her own and leaned in for a soft kiss.

"Everything alright?" Faith asked, when the kiss was finished.

"Of course! Why would you ask me that? Do I seem like something is wrong?" Buffy asked worriedly. Faith chuckled at how defensive the elder slayer had gotten at her question.

"I meant with the vamps B… you know… the phone call."

"Oh yea, it was just Angel checking in. He said they have found some new girls and are going to be sending them here shortly. So looks like pretty soon we are going to get some new houseguests."

"This place is gonna be crawling with all sorts of horny teenaged girls," Faith said as she pulled Buffy even closer to her. Buffy melted into Faith's embrace. She couldn't believe how comfortable she felt laying in Faith's arms. But she knew that she had to get up and start the day. If anything, her phone call from Angel had reminded her just how much work she had to get done.

"As much as I don't want to get up, we have a lot to do today," Buffy said as she stirred a little bit.

"Ugh! I wish we could get a break you know? Just for a couple of days or something," Faith said as she placed a kiss on Buffy's forehead and then sat up from the bed.

"Oh a vacation would be so awesome I agree, but first, we have a school to set up," Buffy said with a smile. "I'm gonna jump in the shower and I'll meet you downstairs." She stood and started to make her way to the door, towel in hand.

"You sure you don't want some company in that shower B?" Faith asked with a smirk on her face and her dimples showing. It took all the self control Buffy had to respond without looking completely flushed.

"Not yet Fai… not quite yet," Buffy responded playfully. She turned back around toward the door then and walked out, not looking back at Faith, but grinning ear to ear.


	10. Chapter 10

***Author's Notes*: Guy's and Gals i am soooo Sorry. I didn't realize that i uploaded the chapters but never published them. The story is technically done and i thought i had everything updated. So as an apology and as a token of my appreciation here's 3 chapters.  
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One month in Scotland felt like two years in Sunnydale to Willow. So much had happened in the short amount of time since they had moved to their new home in the castle, halfway across the world. Even though life in their former home had never left them with a shortage of problems to deal with and things to keep them busy, but the past month in Scotland had made Willow miss the days of her former life.

For the past month the entire Scooby gang had been hard at work getting the school set up as more and more new slayers poured in from around the globe. Angel and Spike weren't slacking on their duties in finding them, and they sent them back to Scotland in packs of usually five to ten. The castle had quickly filled up with new girls. But with every day that passed, more progress was made and they were all finally falling into what could be considered a regular routine. Sure there were kinks to work out… but classes had been formed, patrol schedules put in place and a curriculum had been carved out and started to be implemented.

Giles looked liked he had aged ten years in the short thirty days they had been there. He had worked tirelessly to find watchers who had not perished in the explosion of the council building and had managed to find a dozen or so competent men and women who were willing to join in their efforts, glad to have a fresh perspective on the ways in which the council would operate under Giles' supervision. Xander had worked diligently… practically never without a hammer in his hand, to make the castle into not only the school and training facility that Buffy had envisioned, but also their new home.

The basement had probably had the most work done in the entire castle. They had transformed the once wide open basement level to several different rooms. One of which was responsible for housing the security controls that had been installed on the property. Cameras lined the outside castle and every floor as well as around the gate that stretched the property. A simple magical barrier had been put in place by Willow to keep out all that was evil. As long as she reinforced it every once and while it would be just fine. She was looking into a more effective and permanent barrier to put in place, but hadn't found exactly what she was looking for at that point. Next to the control room was a weapons inventory, housing enough weapons for each slayer to carry something should need be. Adjoining with that room was a larger room, that had two desks against the wall, one of which Xander used to draw and sketch any construction plans. He had also used the space to make himself a mini workshop, storing all his tools and necessary equipment down there where no one else could get to it.

The first floor stayed pretty much the same. It included a large spacious kitchen, with enough room for Andrew to prepare meals for the three dozen or so slayers that now called the place home. Xander had transformed the dining room into a large dining hall, complete with several long bench picnic style tables that filled the room for the girls to gather and eat in. The lounge that had been the bedroom of Team Buffy the first couple days of their arrival had quickly turned into the most common gathering place during downtime. Several televisions had been brought in, along with video game consoles and other fun equipment for the girls to use. Just one door separated the lounge from the large and fully functional gymnasium that Xander had knocked out walls to build. The gym was the size of a basketball court, complete with two hoops on either side. He had even gone as far as building benches that sat along the edges of the gym, making it the perfect spot for large meetings for everyone in the castle to attend. A small room off of that led to the work out room, which Faith insisted on having. Treadmills, elliptical machines, free weights and other exercise equipment had been purchased and filled the room. Giles' office was down the other side of the first floor, away from the noise and racket of the lounge and gym. Xander had done wonders with the once small room, transforming it into a large office, with a desk for Giles and a conference table for the rest of the gang to gather around. He had lined the walls with bookshelves, giving Giles the library feel that he used to call home back in Sunnydale. He had even gone as far as to make the lighting almost exactly the same as it had been in their former high school.

The second floor was now a fully functional educational environment. It has started out as a floor that had several huge rooms and several small rooms that made up for all the space. No one was quite sure how Xander had managed to do all of the work he did in such a short amount of time, but since they hardly saw him around the entire month, they knew he was hard at work. He had created five larger rooms, complete with desks and tables for the slayers to sit and learn at. Willow had spent the month with Giles and Buffy looking over her shoulder as she created both a regular schooling curriculum and a "slayer" curriculum, that included history of the slayer, demonology texts and weapons manuals.

The third floor had remained very much the same as it had been when they first arrived. It had rooms that were all equal in size that each bunked up to three slayers. There were several bathrooms on both sides of the long hallway as well, which kept the peace most of the time. Four rooms at the very end of both sides of the hallway were the residences of four new watchers who had come to stay at the castle and help manage the day to day of so many new slayers.

The fourth floor had stayed their haven. Their rooms had become their solitaries and they had quickly become unique in their own ways. Vi and Rona had decorated theirs with their favourite posters and such items that they had acquired on their downtime shopping trips. Buffy had managed to convince Xander that she couldn't live in a room that wasn't pink and he promptly painted it to match her request the next day. Giles' room was a mystery to almost everyone, as he welcomed the alone time he had there and no one in the close knit group had even stepped foot inside of it. Willow imagined that it looked much like his old home in Sunnydale. Xander's door was the only one on the floor that always seemed to be wide open. He kept it clean and tidy considering the way his basement room had been before. Andrew's room had been geeked up immediately upon his moving into it. It was filled with comic books and action figures, and looked just like a room you would expect an 8 year old boy to have. Faith's room was the only room on the floor that looked the exact same as it had since the day the moved in. Even when Willow went in there from time to time looking for Faith or when asked to, the bed looked like it had never been slept in and nothing had ever even been moved at all. Her clothes were carefully put away in the closet and drawers of the dresser, but there was not one single solitary item sitting out on the desk and nothing covering the walls. The room was completely bare.

Willow had done her best to keep her room comfortable. She had spent a lot of lonely nights in that room since moving to Scotland. Even though she and Kennedy had fought pretty harshly during their first week there, they had managed to make up. Despite the apologies that they both made, Willow couldn't bring herself to feel like things were good between them still. They were still fighting constantly, and Kennedy hardly ever came into Willow's room at night anymore. It was hard for the witch, who only wanted things to go back to the way they had been before the fall of Sunnydale. She had realized pretty soon after her and Kennedy's second fight, the second week in Scotland, that she should probably not hold her breath for that to happen.

And then last night had happened. It had been one of the rare nights that Kennedy had come into her room and shared a bed with her. Things started out hot and heavy at first and one single sentence had changed Kennedy's entire mood. Willow had whispered the words "I've missed you" into her ear as Kennedy sucked on her neck and she felt as Kennedy tensed up and then pulled away, backing away from Willow. It had turned into a fight after words were shared, like everything seemed to do now a days between them, and ended with Kennedy leaving and going back to Dawn's room. Which explained why Willow was now frantically pacing in front of that same room right now, wearing a hole in the floor.

It technically wasn't just Dawn's room, and Willow was well aware of that. Kennedy had a bed in the room and even the decorating of the room had been split 50/50 between them. Dawn's side was more girly and similar to her style of design from her room in Sunnydale, and Kennedy's side was scattered with magazines, clothing and other items. The door had a sign that clearly read "D & K" on the outside of it, in graffiti style lettering. Something that Faith had created for them with Xander's spray paint when he wasn't looking.

Willow had finally determined that if she didn't talk to her girlfriend about the issues in their relationship, that she would possibly go insane. So she worked up the courage and walked the several feet down the hall to the door that her girlfriend was behind. It was once she was in front of the door however, hand in the air ready to knock on it, that all her courage suddenly disappeared once more.

"What are you doing?" A voice rang out, startling Willow from her thoughts as she stood facing Dawn and Kennedy's door. "Ken's not in there," Faith said as she walked closer to the witch.

"Oh… I didn't know… do you know where she is?" Willow asked, trying to sound calm. Faith raised an eyebrow at the question. She could hear the hesitance in the red head's voice.

She had been watching as things kept getting worse and worse between Ken and Willow the past month. She had spent most of the days just watching the others as they ran around getting everything settled. Mostly she had done it so she could avoid a certain blonde slayer during the daylight hours. Things between her and Buffy had heated up tremendously, Faith having not spent one single night in her own bedroom since the move to Scotland. She had found herself completely head over heels for her once arch enemy and managed to hide their relationship, only by avoiding her during the day.

Their "thing" had turned into a full on relationship, turning from major make out sessions to full blown hot and passionate sex that lasted the entire night. Buffy had made Faith wait for almost two entire weeks from their first kiss before she allowed things to get to that level, but once it did, Faith knew she would never turn back. They were in love, and Faith could feel it in her soul. A soul that she had once thought was damaged and unable to love was now filled with hope and desire and nothing but love for the blonde woman.

But no matter how deep their love was, Buffy was still not ready for the rest of the people who lived with them to know about their relationship. As much as it frustrated Faith, she knew that this was something she would just have to wait out. Which was why she was careful not to be with Buffy during the day. There was no way they would be able to keep their hands off of each other, and no way that Faith could look at her without wanting to ravish her instantly.

So she had stayed on the sidelines, helping out where she was needed. She helped Xander with some of the construction, taught combat classes and even helped Andrew in the kitchen. Though he considered her to be more a nuisance since all she did was eat what he was cooking, she felt she was helping. She had also watched the new girls, and since Buffy had been so busy still getting things up and running, she had been the one doing most of the training and patrolling with the newbies.

Buffy had kept her original team of Kennedy, Vi, Rona, Dawn and Andrew in tact, and it worked for them. Satsu had quickly stepped up and shown leadership abilities her first week of being at the castle and she was now heading Faith's main group of slayers she was responsible for. But because Buffy was so busy helping with all the other plans around the castle, Faith was watching out for her team on patrol as well. This had given her ample opportunity to see Kennedy and the way she was.

Faith knew exactly what was going on with Ken. Mostly because it was exactly what she had done when she had first made her way to Sunnydale all those years ago. She had spent so long without a group and now that she had friends, she was constantly on the go with them. Ken was never unhappy when she was with her team, always joking around and smiling ear to ear. But when she was in the castle, by Willow's side, Faith could see the doubt in Ken's eyes. She knew it wouldn't be long before Kennedy told Willow things were done.

"Faith? I asked if you had seen her," Willow said, jumping Faith out of her thoughts.

"Oh yea, I think she's in the lounge with Dawn and Andrew," Faith answered, wondering how long she had zoned out for.

"Okay… thanks, I will just go find her there then," Willow said, flashing a brief smile at the dark slayer and walking past her. But before she got to the end of the hall she stopped and turned back around to face Faith. "Hey Faith?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you noticed… I mean… do you think…" Willow started before her nerves got the better of her. While she and Faith were friends now, it still was hard to talk to the dark girl who had once tried to kill them all. Willow had long forgiven Faith for her time as evil, knowing just how easy it was to fall onto that path herself. She also knew that Faith and Buffy were completely in love, and was just waiting patiently for her best friend to come and tell her the wonderful news. "Never mind," she finished.

"You sure Red?"

"I'm sure… I'm just going to find Ken… thanks Faith," Willow responded, turning back toward the stairs and making her way down.

Andrew, Dawn and Kennedy sat crossed legged on the floor of the lounge in front of the couch. It was a quiet Saturday evening at the castle, with Team Faith out on patrol and Vi and Rona upstairs in their room spending some quality time with one another. The three remaining members of Team Buffy had chosen to spend the night playing cards with one another, laughing and enjoying the downtime that they so rarely received. They each were holding a card to their forehead.

"Highest card wins," Ken remarked as she smirked at both Dawn and Andrew. "I bet 5," she said, throwing her chips in the middle of them.

"I see your 5 and raise you five more," Dawn quipped, unaware that she had a two of hearts stuck to her forehead. Andrew glanced over at her, making a strange face and then back to Kennedy.

"So I have to put at least ten in?" he asked, still not exactly sure how to play the game.

"Seriously Andy, we play this fucking game like every night, you still don't get it?" Kennedy asked clearly irritated with the young watcher.

"Hey! It's confusing!" he exclaimed in a high pitched voice.

"I swear sometimes you are such a girl!" Kennedy said with a chuckle in the words. "You have been so emotional lately! We need to find you a good man to shack up with to release some of that… tension," she said with an even bigger laugh. She looked over at Dawn who in turned laugh right along with her.

When Andrew threw ten chips in the pile and looked down to his feet and Kennedy started to focus on the show that was playing on the television in front of them, Dawn took the opportunity to glance up at the young man who she had grown quite fond of over the past month.

While they had not shared any more kisses between them since that one just a week or so after their arrival in Scotland, Andrew had stuck to his promise and had not said a word to anyone about what had happened between them. This left Dawn impressed with him, because she knew he wasn't one for keeping secrets. While Vi and Rona used a lot of their free nights to get down and dirty with one another, and Kennedy was up usually fighting with Willow, Dawn and Andrew had grown remarkably close. She had a respect for him that the others didn't quite have, and if they did, they certainly didn't voice.

He had worked hard to train under Giles. He had spent a lot of time helping him with whatever he needed and had always ended up being an asset out on patrol. His quirkiness was still there, and despite being awfully annoying at times, his goofy demeanour was intriguing to Dawn, much like Xander's had been to her when she was younger.

"Okay, so lay 'em down," Ken said, as she brought her attention back to their game. They all lay their cards down on the floor, Kennedy clapping her hands in joy that she had won, pulling the chips towards her in one swoop.

"I don't get this game," Andrew said carefully as he started to shuffle the cards. Before Ken had a chance to make fun of him some more, Willow rounded the corner and entered the lounge.

"Uh, hi guys," Willow said as she made her way over to the three of them. Dawn could immediately see the change in Kennedy's eyes as Willow approached. It was hard for Dawn because she felt completely caught in the middle between them. Willow had always been close to Dawn, she had practically helped raise her and Dawn knew nothing more than loyalty toward the witch. Dawn had been spending some time with Willow, learning some basic spells and other magic as she had always been interested in the subject. But she had fast grown to be best friends with Kennedy, spending an insane amount of time with the girl and hanging out as much as possible. "Do you think we could talk?" Willow directed the question toward Kennedy who hadn't even turned around to face her girlfriend.

"I guess so," Ken said as she stood from her spot on the floor and stretched her arms above her head. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," she finished as she headed out the door several feet behind Willow.

"That was weird," Andrew said as he continued to shuffle the cards in his hands. "I sure hope they can fight quietly tonight, I really want to get some sleep."

"I wonder how much longer they are going to last," Dawn said out loud. Andrew's eyes looked up and locked onto Dawns.

"You think they are going to break up?"

"It doesn't look good now does it?"

"But they can't! I mean… the slayer and the witch, it's a beautiful story of how love can triumph…"

"Shut up already! Don't you ever talk like a normal person?"

"Geez, a little jumpy tonight are we my queen?" Andrew asked. Dawn scowled at his pet name for her that thankfully he only used when they were alone together.

"I'm not your queen…" Dawn started. But just as she had, Satsu made her way into the lounge followed by several other slayers that had patrolled that night.

"You seen Faith?" Satsu asked Dawn and Andrew who were still sitting on the ground. They both shook their heads side to side and Satsu rolled her eyes. "Figures, gotta search the whole place to find her. You guys just had to pick a giant castle to live in didn't you… probably gonna be looking for her all night."

Satsu left as quickly as she had come in with all the other girls trailing behind her like lost puppies looking for a good home. Dawn furrowed her brow and turned back to Andrew.

"She's been doing that a lot lately," she remarked.

"What? Who's been doing what?"

"Faith… ditching them after patrol. I wonder where she is going off to almost every night?" Dawn asked mostly to herself. Andrew looked down at his shoes, making sure not to make eye contact with the woman in front of him.

He had used every last ounce of energy in him the past month to keep not only the secret about him and Dawn quiet but the secret about Buffy and Faith's relationship as well. He knew he was getting dangerously close to spilling the beans as it got harder and harder to not slip up.

Dawn happened to look over at Andrew as soon as he looked down at his feet and she instantly could tell he knew something she didn't know.

"What do you know?" she asked him point blank. His head jerked up and his eyes met hers. He looked frightened but it wasn't unusual.

"Nothing! I don't know what you're talking about my queen!" he said as he jumped up from the floor, dropping the cards as he did so. Dawn rolled her eyes at his comment and stood up right with him.

"Don't think you can throw me off with that queen shit! You know something… about where Faith has been going don't you?"

"I don't know anything!" he shouted as Dawn backed him into a corner of the lounge.

"Must be pretty important for you to actually keep it quiet," Dawn said.

"Hey! I can keep a secret! You know that!" he exclaimed, offended that she would even imply he couldn't after he had been so loyal in not telling everyone about their kiss.

"See! I told you that there was a secret you were hiding!" Dawn shouted, pointing her finger in his face.

"I promised I wouldn't tell! She'll kill me!" Andrew said, now visibly shaking with fear at the thoughts of what the once rogue slayer would do to him if she found out.

"Spill it Andrew!"

"I… I can't…" he whispered. Dawn smirked at him and leaned even closer to him. She knew that whatever he was hiding was obviously something she wanted to know and she knew just how to get him to spill the secret without her having to do much pushing. Her grin grew in size as she licked her lips, wetting the surface and she watched as Andrew's eyes instantly fell on them. She didn't even hesitate as she leaned fully into him, pressing her lips completely onto his for a soft and slow kiss.

Andrew couldn't help but be aroused. He had been wanting nothing more than to kiss the young Summers woman since that night he had kissed her those weeks before. He kissed her back, making sure to put as much energy into it as he could so she would see just how into her he was. He was surprised when she parted her lips and her tongue snuck out and into his own mouth. But despite having only kissed her once before, he went with it and felt himself falling over the edge of ecstasy.

When the kiss ended, his eyes were closed. He kept them that way and felt as Dawn leaned back into him, whispering into his ear.

"Tell me," she commanded. Andrew shuttered as her breath hit his skin and he was visibly shaken by the passion in the kiss. Dawn herself had been surprised at how passionate the kiss between them had been, but she was more focused on finding out what he knew.

"Faith has been with Buffy… they are together," he whispered back, eyes still closed as he leaned against the wall with Dawn practically holding him there with her body. At his announcement, Dawn pushed off the wall and Andrew's eyes shot open at the loss of contact.

"What do you mean with Buffy? That's the secret? She's hanging out with Buffy every night after patrol? Everyone knows they are trying to be friends… don't know why she thinks she needs to keep that a secret."

"Keep your voice down!" Andrew hushed at her in a loud whisper.

"Why does it matter! That's not much of a secret Andrew."

Andrew didn't respond immediately. He knew that there was no way she was going to let him go without giving her all the information he had. And he wasn't sure he wanted to keep the secret any more. Clearly Dawn would offer him protection for telling her.

"Okay I will tell you but you have to promise that if Faith tries to kill me you'll stop her," he said very seriously. Dawn nodded approvingly while still looking completely confused. "Alright… you see, there was one girl in all the world… chosen to fight the evil…"

"Seriously! Cut to the secret before I have to beat it out of you myself!" Dawn shouted at him.

"Fine! Buffy and Faith are together… like as in Vi and Rona are together," he rushed out and then quickly covered his mouth with his hands as if he could shove the secret back in. Dawn's eyes widened.

Her first reaction was horrified. Her eyes grew a dark color and her forehead scrunched up into a frown. It changed in matter of seconds to shock and surprise as her mouth opened into an "O" shape and she too covered her mouth with her hand. Lastly, Andrew said the pain in her eyes as the meaning of what he had told her filtered further into her.

"You mean they are dating?" Dawn asked, suddenly not sounding as scary as she had just seconds before.

"I don't know… I think so… they were kissing," Andrew said, still whispering, worried about someone overhearing. Dawn's hand went back to her mouth and she moved toward the couch, flopping on it.

"I can't believe Buffy would keep this from me," she finally managed to say after Andrew had made his way over to her and sat down beside her. He reached over and rested his hand on her knee and she didn't even flinch at the touch which surprised him. He wasn't prepared though when just a few seconds later she jumped up from the couch and headed out the door of the lounge toward the staircase.

"Where are you going?" he pleaded with her as she started to walk fast up the first flight.

"I'm going to find them! I have to hear this from her to believe it," Dawn said, even though she knew that as much as Andrew liked to tell stories there was no way he would make up something like this.

"No! Please! You can't!" Andrew shouted as he jumped up several steps in front of Dawn. "I promised I wouldn't tell and Faith told me she would cut out my tongue and shove it up my…"

"Relax Andrew… I'm sure she was just being Faith," Dawn said as she moved around him and started up the stairs again. She had just hit the second flight when Andrew popped out in front of her again.

"She'll kill me Dawn! Oh please oh please my queen! I will do anything!"

"Stop calling me your queen!" Dawn shouted as she once again moved around him.

"Done! I will stop calling you that if you will just stop and not do this!" Andrew continued to plead from behind her as she ignored him all the way up the second and third flights of stairs. When she reached the top of the fourth flight and was at the entrance of the hallway that led to Buffy's room, Andrew grabbed a hold of her by the shoulders, pulling her back to him and spinning her around. He quickly pressed his lips to hers, roughly at first and Dawn did everything she could to pull back without hurting him.

"Andrew! Stop! I promise I won't tell her you told me! I'll just go in there acting like I don't know anything," Dawn whispered to him as he stepped back and they both wiped at their lips. Dawn was surprised that he had been so bold as to pull her to him and kiss her, but she hadn't hated it like she thought she would. Her mind started to stir with questions as she turned back and headed down the hall to where Buffy's room was.

She stood at the door, looking back down the hallway to see that Andrew had disappeared. She collected her thoughts, wondering if she was actually doing the right thing in calling Buffy out on her secret relationship with Faith. She wouldn't want anyone to do that with her and Andrew, not that they had a relationship. At least she didn't think they did. Her mind started to get confused again as she thought about it and she had to shake her head to free herself from the voices that were inside, all telling her something different.

She sucked in a breath and put her hand on the handle of Buffy's door, turning it slightly, only to find it was locked. It was then that Dawn decided she had to know just what was going on between the two of them. She realized she was being extremely hypocritical in the situation because she hadn't confided in her sister about what was going on with her and the young watcher, but she quickly pushed that thought to the back of her mind. This was Faith… and Buffy… together!

She released the breath she had been holding and gathered the courage she needed, turning the handle, using her new slayer strength to pop the lock off of the door and she opened it quickly, before Buffy and Faith had a chance to even notice the noise.

"Buffy, I need to talk to…" Dawn started but stopped immediately once she caught sight of her sister on her bed.

The answer was clear in that instant. Buffy was completely nude as was Faith who was laying on top of the blonde slayer. Buffy scrambled up, pushing Faith off of her as Faith grabbed a blanket by the foot of the bed and Buffy wrapped the sheet around her body.

"Dawn!" Buffy shouted, sounding more scared and surprised than she was angry.

"Oh my god… oh my god!" Dawn shouted as she quickly pinched her eyes shut and covered them with her hands. "What the hell is going on?"

"It's not what it looks like," Buffy immediately said, wondering if it was even worth trying to lie at this point. She had been caught, red handed, naked in bed with Faith. She was so in love with the dark slayer that she wasn't even sure she cared that people knew anymore. But the words came tumbling out before she had a chance to censor them. She quickly regained her composure. "Okay, it is what it looks like but…"

"Of course it's what it looks like Buffy! You are Faith are naked in bed together! I'm not 5!" Dawn shouted loudly into the room, her eyes still clenched shut.

"Keep your voice down Squirt!" Faith said as she walked, blanket wrapped around her tanned body and shut the door softly, looking at Buffy who was visibly torn about what to say.

"What the hell is going on!" Dawn asked.

Buffy looked up at Faith and into her dark eyes. She saw as Faith smiled at her. It wasn't her smirk… not the one where her dimples left Buffy a puddle of mush on the ground, this was different. It was a sincere smile… one that told Buffy just what she needed to know in that instant.

Buffy stood from the bed, sheet still wrapped around her and Faith made her way back over to where she had previously been with Buffy. Dawn managed to somehow open her eyes and stood in shock as Buffy reached out and grabbed Faith's hand.

"Faith and I are together… we're… well… I'm in love with her."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

There was an ominous silence in the room as the gang sat around the large table in what they considered their new library. They had been awoken late in the night by Buffy, telling them to meet in the library for a quick yet important family meeting that couldn't wait until morning.

After Dawn had caught Buffy and Faith together, they had sat together and explained to Dawn how things had happened between them. How they had so quickly gone from barely speaking to being in love. Dawn sat in silence through the explanation, never once speaking. Buffy kept looking over at Faith for reassurance, and she found it when the dark slayer would smile at her and put her at ease. When Buffy finished rambling, she was surprised to see Dawn with tears in her eyes. She was even more surprised when her sister stood without a word and pulled Buffy into a hug, whispering her approval of the relationship the Chosen Two were now in.

Buffy had decided in that moment that she had to tell everyone. She had considered waiting until the next day, when everyone was fresh and more open to the idea of her and Faith together as a couple. But the longer she thought about it, which was all of thirty seconds, the more she realized she would chicken out if she had to wait. Right now she had all the courage she needed, and now was as good a time as any to tell her family what she had been keeping from them for the past month.

Which was why Xander now sat, leaning far down in his chair, rubbing at his good eye as exhaustion threatened to make him fall asleep at the table. Vi and Rona sat next to each other, holding one another's hand under the long table, but sitting quietly ready for action if necessary. Giles was next to Rona, looking startled and confused as to the nature of the unexpected meeting. Olivia had come down to the meeting with him and she held out a cup of tea, which he gladly took and stirred a bit as Olivia carefully pulled out the chair next to Giles and sat. Willow sat next to Xander, her mind completely overwhelmed with emotions and feelings. She had been in the middle of a rather heated and difficult conversation with Kennedy that had been going on for a couple of hours, when Buffy apologized and explained she needed to speak with them. Kennedy sat on the other side of Vi across from Willow, doing everything she could to avert her eyes from looking at the witch. Andrew sat at the far end of the table, as far away from everyone as he could get and was unusually quiet as he contemplated his fate once Faith entered the room.

All eyes looked up when Dawn entered, followed by Buffy and then Faith. Willow, despite the evening she had already had, could tell just by the way Buffy was walking that she was about to finally tell them about her relationship with Faith. Buffy looked nervous, but confident and Faith was glowing with pride. Dawn was smiling and seemed to be in a good mood, which made Andrew relax a little bit from his spot at the end of the table. Dawn looked up at him and smiled, making her way near him and took a seat by his side, which surprised him slightly. Buffy and Faith stood at the head of the table, looking out at the rest of the group seated around them.

"So who's trying to kill us all now?" Xander asked, as he sat up further in his chair and looked at the last chosen slayers.

"No one is trying to kill us Xander," Buffy replied, with a hint of a giggle in her voice.

"So if there is no big bad… what the hell are we all doing here in the middle of the night?" Rona asked, obviously irritated to be pulled away from her bed.

"Yes, is everything alright my dear?" Giles questioned the woman he loved as his daughter. He could tell by the way she was standing that something was on her mind, and he was sure that whatever it was, it had been bothering her for some time.

"Everything is fine Giles… and I'm sorry to wake you all up but I had to talk to you guys about this… and I couldn't wait."

"So start talking so we can go back to bed already," Ken remarked under her breath from her seat. Willow glanced over, hoping to catch her eyes but instead only saw Kennedy looking down at the table.

"Right… okay… here I go… with the talking thing…" Buffy said, stumbling to find the right words. They were just there a couple of minutes ago and she didn't understand how just before she entered the room she practically had a speech written and now that she was face to face with her family… the people that she knew loved her unconditionally, she couldn't find the right words.

"Buffy… it's okay, take a breath," Willow said with a smile on her face. They locked eyes and in that instant Buffy knew… Willow already knew. It gave her that sense of calm that she so needed in that moment and as soon as she broke her eye contact with her red haired best friend and looked over at the woman she was in love with standing next to her, that feeling only multiplied ten fold. She cleared her throat, that calming sense still lingering in the depths of her soul and she turned once more to look at the faces starring at her, waiting for her to address them.

"I wanted to let you all know… that Faith and I… we are together… we're dating," Buffy said, letting out a sigh of relief once the words were out in the room. Faith smiled and reached for Buffy's hand, which Buffy let her take and they latched their fingers together in a solid hold.

Silence took over. It seemed to Buffy like the silence was there for a good couple of minutes when it really only lasted seconds. Kennedy was the first one to stand up and say something.

"Way to go Faith! Finally pulled that stick out of Buffy's ass huh?" Kennedy said, leaning over the table and bumping fists with the dark slayer. Buffy couldn't help but laugh at Kennedy's remark. She certainly couldn't deny that she had been a little too straight laced before.

"I'm so happy for you both," Willow said, standing from her seat and making her way to the two women. She embraced Buffy in a strong hug and Buffy could feel the tension in her best friend as they did.

"Are you sure Will?" Buffy whispered into her ear.

"Positive Buffy," Willow said, smiling as she let go of the blonde slayer. She smiled then at Faith and put a hand on her shoulder before walking back to her seat next to Xander.

"Xan Man? You alright down there?" Faith asked. The one eyed carpenter had barely moved since the announcement and hadn't blinked once that Faith had seen. "Xander?"

"What? Huh? Oh me? Yeah, I'm good. I'm happy for you two," he sputtered out, as he shook the dirty images out of his mind. The announcement hadn't surprised him in the least, since he had already known. He jumped out of his seat and high fived Faith on his way to hug his best friend. She embraced him happily.

"You sure you're okay with this?" Buffy asked him as the hug ended. She was surprised that he was so open to her and Faith as a couple.

"Are you happy?" he responded with a question of his own.

"I have never been this happy, I finally feel like things are going to be right for once," she said with a huge grin on her face.

"As long as you're happy, I'm happy for you," Xander replied, grinning at her with a toothy grin before heading back to his seat.

"I knew there was something going on with you two!" Rona announced as she stayed seated.

"Congratulations," Vi quickly said after. "You both look happy," she finished.

"I think it's wonderful!" Andrew shouted from his seat at the end of the table. "What an extraordinary tale to be written in the history books. The tale of the light and the dark slayer, once arch enemies, now lovers…" Andrew continued in that storyteller voice that everyone had grown accustomed to.

"Seriously, shut up with that shit! You're just lucky that you held your end of the deal or I would be over there cutting out your tongue," Faith remarked, scaring the young watcher back into his seat with his lips sealed. He glanced over at Dawn, realizing that she had not told them he had spilled their secret. He mouthed a silent thank you to her when Buffy and Faith had finally turned their attention away.

"Giles?" Buffy said, turning to the watcher. His reaction was the one she was the most worried about. He was more than her watcher, he was her father and it wasn't every day that you came out to your father. She had worried that he would not take too well to her being a relationship with the dark slayer.

Giles for his part had sat silent after the announcement was made. He was smiling inside, proud that Buffy had finally been open to letting Faith into her life. He had always had a hunch, something that he could never quite explain to anyone else, but he had always wondered if all that anger between them in their youth was triggered by deeper feelings for one another. He looked up upon hearing his slayer utter his name and cleared his throat before speaking.

"While you don't need my approval… you most certainly have it," Giles said, looking right into Buffy's eyes. She smiled and let go of Faith's hand, quickly rushing toward the older man and pulling him into a hug as she stood from his seat.

"Thank you Giles, it means everything to me," Buffy said into his ear.

"I'm very proud of you my dear," he said back. She pulled away from the hug and had tears in her eyes at his statement. Hearing Giles say he was proud was something she could never get tired of. He then turned his attention to Faith. "And I am very proud of you as well Faith," he said, making eye contact with her.

"Thanks G Man, I promise to take good care of your girl," Faith said with a grin on her face. Buffy made her way back over to Faith and latched their hands once more.

"Is that it? Because if that's it, I'm exhausted," Rona said, standing from her seat and pulling Vi up with her at the same time.

"Ah…actually, this seems as good a time as any," Giles said, standing which immediately had Vi and Rona sitting back down. Giles looked down at Olivia and motioned for her to stand up next to him which she did.

"What's going on?" Buffy asked.

"In light of your good news, I believe I have some good news of my own," Giles began. He grabbed Olivia's hand, putting it into his carefully and then looked back to the group at the table. He let his eyes wash over all of them… his family… his children, all of which had grown so much in the time he had known them. "Olivia and I have decided to marry."

Shock spread across all the faces in the room… including Olivia who was surprised that Giles would choose this moment to announce their engagement. Buffy was the first one to speak, which didn't surprise anyone.

"Wait, I'm sorry. Could you say that again because I swore you just said you were getting married!" she exclaimed. There wasn't anger in her voice, but she was definitely confused and surprised by Giles' announcement. Giles smiled at the blonde slayer, and glanced over the rest of the group still with their mouths open widely and eyes huge.

"You didn't misunderstand my dear… I have asked Olivia for her hand in marriage and she has accepted," Giles said in response. No one moved. No one had even known they were dating this time around. Sure, they had been aware that they had a history, even back in Sunnydale though it had always been speculation that they were a couple… doing couply things behind closed doors.

Faith smiled a wide smile first as the announcement hit her. She squeezed Buffy's hand that was still being held in her own. She found the strength somewhere to get her hand out of Buffy's grasp and moved forward toward Giles and Olivia.

"Congrats G Man! That's awesome news!" Faith said as she stuck her hand out and shook his with her own. He smiled at her response which in turn had all the others standing up and offering their own congratulations. Buffy was the last to move and when she did she jumped at slayer speed, knocking into the older watcher and locking him in a tight hug which he had no way of ever getting out of.

"I'm so happy for you… I had a feeling that this time around we were going to get a chance at a semi-normal life," Buffy said quietly into her watcher's ear.

"It sure seems that way doesn't it?" Giles responded as he managed to pull away from the hug. Buffy had tears in her eyes and she was sniffling to hold them back.

"It is just another delightful tale to be added to the story of Buffy… slayer of the vampyres…" Andrew began from his spot against the wall.

"SHUT UP!" Kennedy snapped at the young man. She was the only one that hadn't said much since Giles' announcement and Faith could tell by looking at her that things between the young slayer and the witch had taken a turn for the worse. Her thoughts were confirmed when Vi made a comment with a huge grin on her face.

"The only thing that could make this night better is if Ken and Willow announced their engagement!"

"Don't hold your fucking breath on that one!" Ken shouted with venom in her voice. The whole room fell silent and eyes turned to Ken and then to Willow who refused to look up from the floor. Ken didn't let the silence last for long. She made her way through the people in her way and to the door. "I'm outta here," she said as she flung it open and slammed it shut as she exited.

"Okay… it's been a long eventful night… lets get to bed now," Xander said, eyeing Buffy who was carefully watching Willow out of the corner of her eye. Everyone disbursed out of the room at once, quietly talking among themselves with exception of Faith, Buffy, Dawn, Giles and Willow.

"I'll be up in a minute," Buffy whispered to Faith, and leaned forward locking lips with the dark woman. Faith smiled into the kiss and when they pulled back she leaned forward once more placing a soft kiss on Buffy's forehead.

"Take your time, night you guys," Faith said as she turned and headed out the same door that the others had just left from.

"Dawn, why don't you head up to bed… you have classes in the morning," Buffy said quietly to her sister, giving her a look that told her everything she needed to know. Dawn knew Buffy wanted Dawn to track down Kennedy and find out what exactly had happened between her and Willow.

"Okay… goodnight," Dawn said, heading out the door and shouting to Faith to wait up as she left.

As soon as they were out of the room, Willow slid her back down the wall she had been leaning against and put her hands over her face, tears slipping out silently through her fingers. Xander was right by her side, wrapping a protective arm around her and pulling her close to him. Buffy let out a quiet sigh and made her way to her two best friends, as Giles pulled out a chair and sat back down at the table close to them. It was going to be a long night.

"Yo Ken! You in here?" Faith asked as she and Dawn entered the gym with Vi and Rona behind them. They didn't need a response as they heard Kennedy punching away at the heavy bag suspended from the ceiling in the training room. The group of 4 made their way to where the young woman was without speaking. They could tell by the way she was throwing the punches that she was angry… taking it all out on the poor innocent punching bag.

"Kennedy… talk to us please," Dawn said from where she was standing just inside the training room.

"Nothing… to… talk… about," Ken muttered between punches.

"We just want to help you," Rona remarked from behind Dawn and Vi nodded in agreement. "We're your friends."

"I don't need any friends… I told you I'm fine!" Kennedy shouted as she kicked hard, knocking the punching bag off of the chain and sending it flying across the room.

"Ah… I've been there kid…" Faith said, moving more into the room toward Kennedy. Ken spun to face them and backed up a little bit with Faith's movement.

"I'm not a kid! And what the hell do you know!" Kennedy screamed at Faith. Faith only put a smirk on her face and continued moving toward Kennedy with Dawn closely behind her. Vi and Rona had moved into the room but were remaining close to the door. Faith chuckled that deep throaty chuckle before answering Kennedy.

"What do I know? Trust me… I know exactly how you feel right now," Faith said finally getting within arms distance of Kennedy.

"Ken I know you're hurting… we just want to talk to you… try to help you," Dawn said.

"That's just it! It doesn't hurt! It feels like this huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders… like I am finally free again!" Kennedy yelled in their direction. Dawn scrunched up her face at Kennedy's remark and glanced over at Faith who still wore a smirk on her face.

"So what's the problem then?" Faith asked.

"The problem is I feel bad about not caring… I mean, I care about her I do, but it just wasn't working out between us. Things are different now," Kennedy said, much more calmly than she had been speaking before. Faith's expression changed as she started to understand just what the young slayer was saying.

"You're worried Red's gonna go all bad again aren't cha? Maybe turn you into a frog or something?"

"I didn't want to hurt her… she's been hurt enough," Ken said, looking down at her feet.

"She'll be fine… you'll see," Dawn said stepping in front of Faith and reaching out to pull Kennedy into a hug. Ken stiffened at first, not wanting to look weak. But once she realized Dawn wasn't going to let go, she gave into the hug and sighed in relief. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.

The rain could be heard pouring outside the windows of the castle. But it was hard for Buffy to determine what was the sound of rain and what was the sound of Willow's tears dripping from her cheeks. No words had been spoken between the group of 4 in over twenty minutes. Which is why Buffy was startled when Willow's voice rang out quietly through the silent room.

"I don't know that I can be around her," Willow said in between sniffles. "I knew we had been fighting a lot but I really didn't see this coming."

"Did you two have a fight?" Giles asked from his spot at the table where he had been sitting quietly stirring and sipping his tea. Willow had begun crying again and wasn't able to respond verbally, so she merely nodded her head affirming everyone's suspicions.

"It's going to be okay Will," Buffy said softly from beside her best friend. She was stroking her red hair that was drenched with tears desperately trying to calm her friend down. Xander was doing the same from the other side.

"Maybe you need to get away for a few days… give yourself some time to think and give her some time and you two can talk again," Xander offered. Buffy nodded in agreement.

"We've all been really stressed out trying to get everything up and running… working really hard… maybe we all could use a little vacation," she said as she glanced up at Giles who was trying his best to act like he hadn't heard her. He had been waiting for them to come to him and ask for some time off. After all, they really had been working non stop since the fall of Sunnydale and the apocalypse in L.A.

"We can't just up and leave," Willow said, sitting up and removing her hands from her face. She looked exhausted, defeated and utterly depressed. Giles could tell by the look on her face that if she stayed here at the castle right now there would be a strong chance she would lose her control over the magic again… and he didn't want that. He went through a momentary internal struggle, trying to decide if it was even possible for them all to take off. He too could use the break, and certainly Olivia would welcome the vacation as would the rest of them.

"Perhaps we could work something out…Buffy is right… we have all been working rather hard, I'm sure we could manage a week vacation or something of the sort," Giles said through his teeth. He wasn't thrilled with the idea but he did realize now after all his years as a watcher, that if they didn't take a break from time to time, the work wouldn't be done properly in the first place.

"You mean it Giles?" Buffy asked, excited at the prospect of getting away. "I thought I would have to beg or something like that."

"No begging is required my dear… I will see about making the arrangements in the morning. You do believe your team and Faith's team are capable of patrolling on their own at this point do you not?"

"Yeah, they can handle it… plus, we've had our share of apocalypse's in the past month… nothing should be coming up anytime soon that they can't handle without us," Buffy said, a huge smile on her face.

"I am inclined to agree… however Dawn will have to stay behind, as she has studies to do… you don't think she will be upset do you?"

"No… I think she likes the whole 'life of a slayer' thing," Buffy responded. Xander was still holding Willow close to him, just listening to the conversation. "What about you Xander, do you think you can take a break for a week or so?"

"As long as we go somewhere warm," he said with a smile. "Most of the construction is done anyway and I can pick up when we get back."

"Willow?" Buffy said turning to her best friend who still looked heartbroken.

"Are you sure Buffy? I mean, the barrier around the castle still needs reinforcing from time to time and we just started getting into a routine here."

"Can't one of the girls in the coven reinforce the barrier? And we need this Willow… you need this," Buffy said more sternly. Willow looked like she was thinking about it. She had her doubts about leaving the new slayers to handle things on their own, but she did know that they had shown great improvements in the past month.

"There are watchers here Will… the girls will be fine," Xander said urging her to agree to the vacation he so desperately needed.

"I guess if you all think it will be alright, then vacation sounds wonderful," Willow said, finally smiling after what seemed like days.

"Yay! It's going to be so fun I promise!" Buffy said as she hugged Willow and then looked over at Giles. "You'll make the arrangements?"

"I will begin after I have had some sleep," Giles said, standing from his seat and pushing in his chair. "Goodnight all," he said, squeezing Buffy's shoulder as he left the room.

"I really thought that was going to be harder," Buffy said with a smile as she looked at her two best friends. "Guess Giles getting married has turned him into a softy."

Morning seemed to come without any warning. They had all been late getting to bed thanks to the announcements and Vi was definitely feeling the lack of sleep as she rolled over to look at the clock.

"What time is it?" Rona asked in a groggy voice from beside Vi.

"It's time to get up," Vi grumbled, throwing the covers back and sitting up in the bed she was sharing. She had never thought she would find herself in a relationship with a girl… but now that she was, she couldn't imagine ever being with anyone else. It was like her and Rona were meant for one another… their connection was so strong that she couldn't quite explain the way it made her feel.

She closed her eyes when she felt strong hands massaging her back and she leaned back into them.

"You sure we can't just ditch this morning, stay in bed?" Rona asked in her ear.

"As much as I want to take you up on that offer… you know we can't," Vi said, opening her eyes and standing up from the bed.

"I know, you're right," Rona said, but she didn't move from the confines of the sheets. She instead stretched out pulling her arms over her head, hearing the bones crack slightly. Vi turned around just as she began to stretch and couldn't help but let her eyes roam over her body. She slinked back toward the bed and straddled her.

"I guess we could be a little late," Vi said with a glimmer in her eye, making Rona smile huge and pull Vi down for a heated kiss. As things began to heat up between them, they were interrupted by a loud knock at the door.

"Meeting in the gym in ten minutes! Get your asses up!" Faith's raspy voice rang out from the outside of the door. Vi smiled into the kiss as Rona grumbled as the loss of Vi's lips on hers.

"So much for that," Vi said, placing one last chaste kiss on Rona's lips before standing and pulling Rona up with her. "Come on… let's see what the big deal is now."

Ten minutes later all of the new slayers were gathered in the gym, sitting on the benches talking to each other. Satsu had her team surrounding her and Ken, Dawn and Andrew sat together in silence. Vi and Rona were sitting just below them, hands interlocked with one another, when Buffy and Faith finally entered the gym.

"Listen up girls!" Buffy shouted at the top of her lungs. All the chatter immediately died down and all eyes fell onto the blonde slayer. "We have some news for all of you that you are going to want to pay attention to," Buffy continued once everyone had stopped talking.

"A new threat?" Satsu asked from where she was on the benches.

"No, no new threat. But you guys are going to be on your own for a few days… something has come up that requires all of us back in the states," Buffy lied. She knew that telling them all they were going on a nice relaxing vacation to Hawaii for a week wasn't going to make them all happy for her, so she instead chose to imply that it was work related.

"What do you mean on our own? Faith is going too?" a young slayer that Buffy didn't know the name of asked from where she was seated next to Satsu.

"Yes, we are all going. Myself, Faith, Xander, Willow, Giles and Olivia will be heading out tomorrow," Buffy explained. "We should be back in no more than a week."

"You're leaving us with all the newbie watchers?" Rona asked.

"They will be in charge of the day to day operations yes, but we have chosen two of you to be in charge of slaying… making sure that patrol schedules are in order and that everyone reports in after," Buffy continued.

"This should be interesting," another girl who Buffy didn't know said quietly. "Bet I can guess who it's gonna be."

"Shut your mouth! If you are so jealous of those who have shown potential to be leaders, maybe you should step up a little bit and train a little harder," Faith shouted at the girl. Buffy smiled at the dark slayer after her outburst. The young girl who had spoken just sunk further into her seat.

"Alright, Kennedy and Satsu… you're in charge. I want you all reporting to them. Everything stays the same… everyone will attend their classes and everyone will go on patrol as scheduled," Buffy shouted. Buffy glanced up and could see that Satsu was beaming with pride at being named a leader and Kennedy hadn't changed her facial expression at all. "Any questions?"

Andrew's hand shot up out of the group which had Buffy rolling her eyes.

"What is it Andy boy?" Faith asked.

"Shouldn't I be going with Mr. Giles to continue my watcher training?" he asked.

"No, you aren't ready for a mission like this," Buffy responded, holding back the laughter that wanted to break free. "You will stay here and stay with your team. Any more questions?"

Andrew's hand rose again which had Buffy biting her tongue in annoyance.

"Any important questions?" Faith asked instead of letting Buffy call on Andrew. She glared at him out of the corner of her eye and saw as he slowly put his hand down.

"Okay, that's settled then… head to where you are supposed to be," Buffy said to the crowd.

The girls began to get up off the benches and all headed out to begin their day. Dawn and Kennedy were the last ones and approached Buffy and Faith.

"You're going on vacation aren't you? That isn't fair!" Dawn whined to her sister.

"You wanted to live the life of a slayer Squirt… that life isn't always fair," Faith replied before Buffy had a chance. Dawn only rolled her eyes and allowed Kennedy to pull her out of the room. When all the girls had left, Faith turned and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, placing a kiss on her lips which Buffy quickly turned more passionate. She couldn't wait to get to the beach for some much needed alone time with her girl.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"How about a costume party?" Andrew asked panting as he struggled to catch his breath along side his teammates.

"Why so you can dress up like a girl?" Kennedy asked with a hint of laughter in her voice.

"I'm not gay!" Andrew shrieked.

"Keep telling yourself that dude," Ken said as she slapped him on the shoulder playfully.

This was the first time they had been out on patrol by themselves since their move to Scotland just over a month ago. The original Scoobies with Faith and Olivia, packed up and headed out for their "mission" earlier that morning. Dawn knew that there was no mission in the states, but rather that they were taking a much needed vacation.

At first Dawn was upset that she wasn't going… jealous even that she was going to miss out. But the more she thought about it, the less irritated she was about the whole thing. After all, Buffy had left Kennedy in charge… meaning that they were going to have some fun while the "parental figures" were away.

It didn't take long to convince Kennedy and Satsu that a party was in order. Hell, Kennedy jumped on the idea the second it was mentioned by Andrew. She needed some good old fashioned fun to take her mind off of her break up with Willow. Even though she wasn't heartbroken about the failure of their relationship, she was still slightly worried about Willow. She was glad that the red haired witch was getting some time off, and some time away. It would likely do both of them some good.

"Alright Rona, how much we got so far?" Kennedy asked.

"About four hundred and four bones."

"That's it? We've been out here for four hours, had to wrestle twenty wallets out of undead hands, taken out at least two dozen vamps and we barely have enough to get a house full of slayers buzzed!" Kennedy shouted in annoyance.

"Dawn, Giles or Buffy had to have left you something. There's no way they left you here without an emergency fund. Credit card… pizza money…anything?" Rona asked

"Nope," Dawn replied quickly.

"Fuck!" Kennedy shouted even louder this time.

"So, THE slayer left town and left the rugrats to fend for themselves, huh?" a female vampire dressed in a blood red leather jacket and black jeans said as she stepped out behind Team Buffy.

The group spun around to see their enemy whistle, and immediately saw as 9 other vampires surrounded them.

"I heard slayer blood is a natural aphrodisiac," the red jacketed vampire who appeared to be the leader spoke out with a wolfish grin.

"So Rona, what do you think?" Kennedy asked as she and the other three women started to slowly form a square around Andrew.

"Moe money, moe money, moe money," Rona replied with an evil grin and dollar signs in her eyes.

With that, the vampires started to charge forward toward their prey. Kennedy smiled getting read for the incoming attackers.

"Let's go collect," she said.

"Duck!" Andrew yelled. His female companions did as he commanded and Andrew proceeded to whip out two plastic water pistols, filled with holy water. He quickly began to spray anything that was moving. He managed to score direct hits to the faces of 4 of the vampires before his human wall had to come back up to protect him.

One by one, Kennedy quickly shuffled through the pain stricken vampires pckets and staked them after each successful raid, while Dawn, Vi and Rona were protecting their young watcher, who was reloading his water pistols. It was taking all their energy and focus not to let the slayer in them take over and stake the vamps in front of them immediately.

"Crap guys, I'm out," Andrew shouted as he threw his summer toys to the ground and only 4 vampires remained.

"Andy… stay back," Dawn said quickly when she realized he was no longer with a weapon in his hands.

"C'mon girls, let's mug these assholes old school," Kennedy announced as her team was starring face to face with an even amount of vampire faces starring back at them, growling.

Vi was the first slayer to last out at her opponent, as she ducked a haymaker swing and delivered an elbow strike to her vampire's kneecap, downing him instantly with a piercing scream. Kennedy attacked her advancing enemy in similar fashion. When he came within range, she launched a thrusting pump kick to the vampire's shin, followed by a knee with her other leg to where he was now kneeling, breaking his **facial **bones as she did so.

Luckily for Rona, she saw the left hook her attacker was telegraphing and heavied her own arm upward to block the incoming blow. She then stepped into her enemy and judo flipped him to the ground hard. She wasted no time in following up her attack as she lomed over her downed vampire on her toes, and then came crashing down hard on his face with all her weight, landing a fierce form arm strike which dazed her opponent. Dawn wasn't so lucky, as to get the first shot in. The vampire she was facing was the leader of the gang… older, stronger, faster and more experienced than the others. Her attacker landed a quick jab to Dawn's abdomen, followed by an uppercut and fresh spinning backhand slap across Dawn's face. Dawn spun around in pain, lip split, vision temperoraily impaired… and extremely pissed off. She use the momentum of her oppontents blows to increase her spinning speed and deliver a back ebow strike to the vampire's nose. It broke instantly and Dawn then reached back for her stakes behind her back inside of her jacket, as the vampire held it's nose in pain with both hands. She staked both of the female vampire's kneecaps, downing her enemy instantly and the vampire leader let out a blood curling scream.

By this time the rest of Team Buffy had finished **off** their attackers and circled around Dawn and her prey. Dawn was still fuming, and she leaned forward to her kneeling victim, roughly grabbing a fistful of dark black hair. She pulled the vampire's head back.

"So you wanna taste a slayer huh?" She ripped out a bloddied stake from one of the kneecaps with a sickening suction sound filling the night air. "Well taste this."

Dawn sucked on her split lip, cleared her throat and spit the blood directly into the open mouth of the vampire as it screamed and begged for mercy. Dawn quickly started to strip her **prey** out of the leather jacket she was wearing, and once she had succeeded, she ended the life of another undead.

Silence filled the air with what felt like minutes as Team Buffy looked at Dawn with shock at her rage.

"Guess someone is rough in the sack huh?" Kennedy quipped. The others started to laugh, including Dawn at her joke. Andrew for his part could only stare at the woman he couldn't stop fantasizing about and he took a few steps back, covering his crotch that showed exactly how turned on he was.

The group began to walk over toward the base of a tree, and as soon as Andrew had collected himself several seconds later and shaken his head of the images of him and Dawn together, he joined after them.

"C'mon Rona, big money! Big money!" Ken joked as they reached the base of the tree

"Sorry captain wheel of fortune, only two fiddy," Rona remarked.

"Cheap mother fuckers! Seriously, why can't anyone rich die?" Kennedy cursed.

"Aww, big bad Ken-Flow not getting her way again? Want me to go call mommy Buffy so she can kiss it and make it all better?"

With a knowing smirk, Kennedy and her team spun around to see Satsu and her crew standing there in all their gear, with smiles plastered on their faces. They were hollering and high fiving one another after their leader's comment.

"Well, I was gonna wait for Buffy to ask me out or treat me to dinner but…" Kennedy shrugged right before she got a slap on the ass from Dawn, making her smirk turn into a full smile. "Tell me you have good news Kimo-sabi," Kennedy pleaded. Satsu smiled , flipped Ken off and pulled out a rather large wad of cash in the same hand.

Kennedy and her crew strode over to join Satsu's group, smiles everywhere as Kennedy swung her arm behind Satsu's neck and shoulders.

"That's my Asian… love you long time, happy ending girl!"

Three hours had passed and Kennedy was well on her way to out drinking every other slayer at the house combined. She could feel the low hum in her body from the alcohol that was swimming around in her system and her mind had finally stopped thinking about the breakup with Willow.

When the two teams had arrived back at the castle, after making a beer run at the local market, the other slayers had already started putting the party together. They had ransacked the kitchen, making sure there were enough snacks to last all the hungry slayers during their night of drinking and fun.

It didn't take long for the party to get going, with Ken cracking open a bottle of Jack Daniels and drinking directly from the bottle, claiming it as her own. The other slayers followed suit, and soon enough there was fun being had all around. They had contests playing Rock Band on the Xbox… Team Buffy emerging victorious over Team Faith due to Andrew's excellent singing. The lounge had quickly become a disaster zone… with chips crumbled into the carpet and beer spilled all over the new couches. Everyone was thankful that Buffy and Faith were away… and they were taking advantage of their freedom.

So as the party rolled on and time ticked away, Kennedy found herself sitting in a circle with her team… Dawn was directly on her right, with Vi next to her. Rona was seated close to Vi's side, holding her hand and Andrew sat on the other side of Rona, completing the circle.

"It's your turn Andy… truth or dare?" Rona asked as she took another sip from her beer she had been nursing for quite some time.

"Do I have to do this again?" Andrew whined. "I think you are skipping other people because it's always my turn!"

"Shut up Andrew! Truth or dare?" Kennedy shouted out at him, careful not to slur her words. She didn't need the others to know just how intoxicated she really was.

"Fine… this time I'm picking dare… I don't want you to have any more funny stories about my past to make fun of me for," he declared, sitting up straighter on the floor and puffing out his chest to try to look a little more manly. The others only laughed at his attempt.

"Okay watcher boy… I dare you to take off your shirt and pants and run around the room in just your undies, singing the song of your choice at the top of your lungs," Rona said with a grin on her face. Vi's eyes brightened up at Rona's dare and she did everything she could to hold back the laugh.

"No! No way!" Andrew said, standing from his spot on the floor and back up toward the doorway leading out of the lounge. "There's no way I'm going to do that."

"A dare's a dare Andy… so strip," Ken said with a smirk on her face. Dawn sat quietly next to Kennedy and Andrew caught her eyes with a pleading look. She only shrugged her shoulders and looked away from him, not wanting anyone to catch on about her sudden attraction to the young man.

Andrew sighed heavily and with one last look to Rona hoping she would change her mind about his dare, he groaned out.

"Fine…" he said as he pulled up on the hem of his t-shirt and lifted it up and over his head. The others had stood from the floor and began to giggle immediately after his shirt had been removed. "What's so funny?" he asked in a high pitched voice.

"Dude… I think you're new nickname is going to be nipples," Kennedy said in between laughter as she pointed at Andrew's chest.

"It's cold in here!" he shouted, covering himself with his hands. "I'd like to see you take your shirt off and run around here and we'll see if you aren't cold!"

"Uh oh Andy… you better be careful," Vi said as she noticed Kennedy's face light up as a plan came into her mind. Andrew glanced over at Ken and noticed she was inching up toward him, getting a little too close for comfort. He gripped tightly onto his shirt that was in his right hand.

"Please… don't," Andrew said carefully, hoping to distract her from whatever she was planning to do.

"Don't what? What do you think I'm going to do to you huh?"

"I don't know but whatever it is… please just don't," he said again, this time a little more quietly. Kennedy stopped just a few inches from him and he shivered both from the cold and the fear.

"NURPLE!" Kennedy yelled as she lunged forward toward the junior watcher. Luckily Andrew saw her coming and managed to back up slightly before she had moved and he had a foot head start out of the lounge and down the hallway.

"No! Please NO!" he was screaming as Kennedy chased closely after him with Dawn, Vi and Rona hot on Ken's heels.

"Careful Ken… he might actually like it!" Rona said with a laugh as they continued to chase the shirtless man. They managed to back him into a corner against the wall and he had no where to run.

"No way, the only way Andy here would like it would be if some hot dude came along and gave him one, ain't that right Andy boy?" Ken quipped.

Andrew took a deep breath, still annoyed with all the jokes about him being gay.

"I'm NOT GAY!" he shouted as loudly as he could, causing everyone to stop closing in on him. When he realized they had stopped moving he pushed off of the wall a little bit, holding his head up high.

"Right… I'm not gay either," Kennedy said sarcastically. "Dude, just admit it… no one here really cares if you like dudes or not… it's cool with us," she finished.

Dawn stayed silent as Andrew let out a sigh of complete and total frustration. She could see the anger in his eyes and the sadness that lingered behind the anger. Something about the way he glanced over at her, made her heart ache for him and she couldn't help it as she stepped away from the other slayers and walked to Andrew's side.

"He's telling the truth," Dawn said, trying hard not to show the timidness in her voice. Her teammates looked over at her with confusion etched across all of their faces. Other slayers had joined in the hallway with all the commotion from Andrew's shouting and were now whispering to themselves several yards back.

Dawn knew that there was no way she could back down now. She sucked in a huge breath and grabbed the young man by his shoulders, spinning him so he was facing her and then she quickly leaned in and planted her lips onto his.

Shocked sounds were uttered out of all of the slayers in attendance, and Andrew's eyes remained opened in shock of his own for a few seconds. It wasn't until he felt Dawn's tongue swiping at his lips that he closed his eyes and opened his mouth, inviting her in. The kiss that had began as just a chaste kiss, quickly became passionate, their tongues familiarizing with one another's mouths and Dawn had wrapped her arms around Andrew's shoulders, tugging lightly on his sandy blonde hair. He ran his fingers through her long brown hair and sighed as the kiss came to an end when the need for air hit them both.

The backed away from each other then, and looked at the faces of Ken, Vi and Rona who had eyes wide open and their mouths hanging slightly.

"See… I'm not gay," Andrew said quietly when the silence that had taken over for a few brief seconds became too much for him to handle. He looked over at Dawn and smiled warmly at her, and even after her display of affection for him in front of everyone, he was still surprised when she smiled warmly back.

Vi's coughing broke Dawn and Andrew from the trance they had fallen in while looking in one another's eyes

"So she kissed you… doesn't prove anything, your still big with the gay to us" Kennedy remarked, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Ken's eyes moved over to Dawn and she saw as Dawn rolled her eyes. Kennedy was taken aback when Dawn stepped forward two steps with her back now to Andrew, and roughly grabbed at Andrew's crotch as she shouted, "GAYYY THIIISSSSSSS!".

"Bet that proves it," Dawn said with a huge grin on her face as she watched Ken's surprise wash over her again. She couldn't help but laugh at her sister slayer's face as Ken, Vi and Rona all glanced down to the young watcher where Dawn was holding and realized exactly what she meant.

"Girl has a point," Rona was the first to say.

"I guess she does," Ken said as her surprise turned into a smile. "Point taken."

The sun was about to rise and most of the slayers had fallen asleep wherever they had landed with alcohol heavy in all of their bodies. There were a few stragglers who were sitting on the floor playing video games with one another, every once and awhile shouting out in anger when they lost.

Vi and Rona were in a heap on the floor, Rona's arm holding tightly to Vi just in front of the couch that Dawn and Kennedy were on. They were sitting with their legs up, Dawn holding them close to her body and Kennedy comfortable, leaning back against the arm of the couch.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ken asked. She and Dawn had been sitting up talking once the others had started to pass out and the party had begun to wind down. For some reason neither of them was ready to fall asleep yet.

"I don't know, I guess I wasn't even sure exactly how I felt," Dawn replied, taking a sip from the beer she had vowed would be her last for the night.

"I don't know what you see in him," Ken said with a little chuckle. She lifted a beer bottle up to her lips and frowned when she tipped it up only to realize there was nothing left in the bottle. She sighed and tossed it over the back of the couch, smiling when Dawn reached out with hers, handing it to Ken for her to take a drink from. "I mean, look at him!"

Andrew was passed out cold on the air hockey table that had been set up in the lounge. After Dawn had kissed him, proving to everyone that he was indeed not gay, he was so wound up and excited that he had a few more drinks than he should have to celebrate. He had been one of the first to fall, his shirt still off and tucked into his back pocket. His team had taken advantage of his party foul and promptly ran off to find permanent markers. They had spent over an hour drawing funny faces and writing things such as "I love Dawn" all over his stomach and face.

"Sometimes I wonder the same thing," Dawn said with a giggle as Ken handed her back her beer. "But honestly, between you and me… this is the first time I've ever really felt this way about a boy," Dawn confessed.

Ken's eyebrows shot up in question at Dawn's statement. She knew that Dawn was naïve… she had her big sister to thank for that, but she never guessed that Dawn hadn't experienced a couple of go rounds with a guy a time or two.

"Wait… you mean to tell me that you've never felt that low down itch… that rumble in your stomach… that need to ravish before?"

"Only when I was under a spell… does that count?" Dawn smiled at the memory of her, Anya and Buffy all fighting over the same boy because of his enchanted jacket.

"Okay, but you have at least had some action before right?" Ken asked, suddenly very involved in the conversation as she sat up a little more so she could see Dawn better.

"Ewe! No Ken! No action… Andrew is only the second boy I've ever kissed!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Man, you did live a sheltered life," Ken said as she grabbed Dawn's beer from her hands and took another sip.

"I wasn't that sheltered!" Dawn objected. "He was a vampire after all," she finished. Ken coughed at her statement and couldn't stop the beer from being spit out of her mouth directly onto Dawn. "Gross Ken!"

"Hold on a sec… stop. What is with you Summers chicks and your vamps? Please I just don't get it!" Ken begged as she wiped at her mouth where beer had spilled out of. She ignored Dawn's glare for being spit on and just looked at her with wide eyes. "Well?"

"I didn't know he was a vampire at the time… he seemed so normal when I met him."

"Bet your sister threw a fucking fit huh?"

"She wasn't thrilled. She ended up tracking us down with Spike and Giles in tow. It was just after I had finally realized he was a vampire," Dawn explained, remembering the day like it had just happened the day before.

"I remember my first kiss… she was so hot," Ken said, leaning back again on the couch and getting comfortable. Dawn smiled at took another sip from her beer.

"Did you always know… that you were into girls I mean?" Dawn asked. For some reason she felt completely comfortable talking to Kennedy. She knew that their friendship had grown practically over night, but she could just tell that she and Ken were meant to be great friends.

"I was pretty young," Ken said. "I tried to hide it you know, when I was younger. I even dated a couple of guys but it just wasn't for me. There's just something about the soft skin of a woman... their delicate hands that can touch you in all the right places…"

"Please don't continue," Dawn said, laughing slightly and taking the last sip from her beer before setting the bottle down on the floor in front of the couch.

"Speaking of which… how do you feel about your sister coming out of the closet and everything? And with Faith of all people?" Ken asked suddenly.

Dawn leaned back on the couch as well, using the opposite arm to rest her head and stretched her legs out so they were resting on top of Kennedy's.

"At first it was weird… and not so much the Buffy being into girls thing… it was more her being with Faith that bothered me."

"You had to have known that Faith was totally in love with her from the start though right?" Ken asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well Willow always said that she had a feeling you know… that the reason the two of them could never get a long was because they were totally into each other."

"Willow said that?" Dawn asked, wondering why if Willow had known all along she hadn't ever mentioned it.

"Yeah, a couple of times." Ken grew silent then as if she remembered she was no longer talking about her girlfriend, but her ex instead. Dawn watched as Ken's demeanour changed and sat up slowly, reaching her hand out to place on Ken's hand.

"It's okay to miss her Ken," she said softly.

"I know," Ken replied just as softly back. She sat up quickly after a few seconds of silence and the surprise of her movement made Dawn draw her hand away just a quick. "But that's just it… I don't really miss her you know? I am worried about her sure, but I don't miss the constant fighting… or the constant feeling like I could never compare to someone else," Ken explained.

"She brought up Tara a lot huh?" Dawn asked quietly.

"Yeah… she didn't always say her name, but I knew that she was always comparing me to her," Ken said. As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she could have put them back in. She had said the last word "her" in such a way that felt wrong. She knew how close Dawn had been to the blonde witch who had passed and Ken could tell by the look on Dawn's face that talking about her wasn't something Dawn liked to do. "I'm sorry, I know you guys were close," Ken apologized.

"It's alright… it was a long time ago."

They sat there on the couch together then… both of them relaxed using the arms as pillows. The silence was comfortable between them and the last of the slayers who had been playing video games had drifted off. Dawn knew that she needed to change the mood between them, not wanting to end the night on a sad note.

"So… now that you and Willow aren't together, you got your eye on any of the other girls? Like a young Asian slayer perhaps?" Dawn asked, breaking the silence. She wore a huge grin on her face and Kennedy's eyebrows furrowed at the mention of Satsu.

"Hell no! No way in hell and I'm hooking up with that one! But there are a few good prospects," Kennedy finished with a laugh. She closed her eyes and relaxed even more into the couch, feeling the sleep tugging at her but not willing to give in just yet.

"We need to come up with some sort of system for the room for sure!" Dawn said, her exhaustion hitting her at the same time Kennedy's did. She watched as her sister slayer closed her eyes.

They both lay there quietly and Dawn was almost asleep when she heard Kennedy chuckle one last time.

"For sure, the last thing I need is to see you and Nipples over there getting down and dirty!"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"Unhhhgg! Anyone find a mute button on the world yet?" Kennedy asked as she shuffled her feet into the lounge wielding her black jeans, grey tank top and bed hair.

It had been a long night for the young slayers, and they had all passed out well after the morning had come. They had spent most of the day just hanging around and recovering from their party the night before.

"Jeez Ken, you look even worse than usual and it's 6 in the evening. I know we got wasted but you look even more worn out than I thought you would," Dawn said with a snicker as she looked her friend up and down. Kennedy only smiled and flipped Dawn the finger.

Satsu unconsciously chose that moment to enter the lounge in her number 13 extra large Toronto Maple Leaf jersey and swatted Kennedy on the ass, earning an unexpected yelp from the other team captain. Satsu's teammates who happened to be in the lounge as well encouraged her with hollars and hand slaps to one another. Everyone continue to laugh, except for Kennedy who only gave a long and evil smile toward Satsu as she strode further into the lounge toward the sports equipment. Dawn noticed the look from her teammate and couldn't help but think that the look Ken was giving Satsu lingered just a little too long. Dawn turned to Kennedy and gave her a questioningly look, which only earned her a big smile from her friend and team leader, combined with two middle fingers staring at her.

Before Dawn could say anything, a high pitched alarm sounded and a roomful of young women started to grip at their ears.

"What da fuck is that shit?" Rona yelled over the noise.

"It sounds like the intruder alarm, but it can't be! Willow recast all her protection spells before she left and whoever is stationed in the communications room hasn't said anything so they must have not seen anything!" Dawn shouted back to her

Just then the alarm stopped almost as quickly as it had begun and all was quiet again in the castle.

"See, told you, Willow's spell must have hiccupped… I'll call her and find out how to re-cas…"

"CRRAAASSSSHHH!" was the sound that interrupted Dawn's statement and before anyone had time to question what caused the interruption, vampires came crashing in from both lounge doors. Kennedy was the only one who could overcome her shock as she commanded to all the others.

"SLAYERS! FORM THE LINE! SATSU GEAR US UP!"

Satsu quickly heaved several containers of sports equipment to the florin front of the line. As the slayers were disbursing their makeshift weapons of baseball bats, cricket rackets and other sporting equipment, they were over zealous and threw a few baseballs and floor hockey balls across the room. Two of them hit the rather giant stereo system, hitting the play button.

"There they are! Now everyone remember what Mistress said… rape, pillage and burn, but DO NOT KILL these ones! If I see blood on your fangs, I'll kill you myself!" a tall, fit vampire dressed in full French plate body armor and a French rapier commanded.

The CD player finally kicked in with the volume up from the party the night before and began to belt out Splitknots "Wait and Bleed"

"I've felt the hate rise up in me. Kneel down and clear the stone of leaves. I wander out of where you can't see. Inside my shell, I wait and bleed."

"Kennedy, Andrew! He's still in the kitchen! I have to go to him!" Dawn pleaded with her captain as tears started to form in the former key's eyes. Kennedy felt torn, heart-broken for her best friend. Se knew that unless Andrew was with the other slayers in the house, he was a dead man for sure. But before Kennedy could reply to Dawn, a familiar war cry could be heard, as well as one that sounded like…. Andrew?

Every slayer and vampire in the room looked toward the eastern lounge doorway as clouds of dust started to form. Suddenly, vampires from the **E**astern entrance started to disappear, revealing Vi and Andrew screaming their lungs out. Vi was swiftly staking vamp after vamp with two broken and jagged wooden kitchen spoons and Andrew was laying the smack down, bashing the shit out of his enemies left and right with a shallow handled pot in each hand. He was wearing a stainless steel strainer on his head and had a look of determination on his face as he moved forward, all the while singing/screaming to Sliptknot that was playing on the stereo.

"I've felt the hate rise up in me!" Smash! Clank! "Kneel down and clear the stone of leaves!" Poof, Arraccchh! Poof, Arraccchh! "I wander out where you can't see" Bash, Dent! Poof, Arraccchh! "Inside our shell's the slayer's WAIT AND BLEED!"

Kennedy smiled, relieved that both her teammates were alive and kicking ass. She lifted her baseball bat in the air, and looked at Satsu. Satsu nodded in approval, snapped off the end of her hockey stick and split the blade of her stick in half. **The younger girl smiled at Kennedy, and raised her make-shit reaper scythe in the air the same time Kennedy raised her bat. **

"GOODBYE!" Kennedy shouted in command.

With that, all hell broke loose. The line of slayers charged to their intruders. A few slayers from Satsu's team and Dawn ran to the aid of Vi and Andrew while the others charged into the vampires from the western entrance of the lounge.

Dawn was the only one fast enough to get to the eastern vampire group before a line of vampires stood between the two slayer groups. Dawn, with cricket racket in hand, started frantically sending vampires to their knes with low strikes to the kneecaps and groin area of any vampire who crossed her path on her way to her watcher and new boyfriend.

Rona went straight for tall, dark and metal clad. With a golf club tightly gripped in her hand, she let loose a roar and bull rushed right through three vampires to get to who they could only assume was the assault teams leader. Her opponent simply smiled and in almost the blink of an eye, unsheathed his rapier and brushed it against Rona's right arm and chest. She spun on the spot as she felt the stinging slash of the enemy's blade and clenched just above her breast with her free hand.

The armoured vampire simply smiled at the wounded Rona, and held up his hand giving her the wave of 'bring it on.' Rona accepted the challenge, gladly, as she started to strike at her enemy with her make-shift weapon.

The two warrior's weapons met each other in hypnotic rhythm, so much so that a spectator would think they were acting out a play. However, Rona was at a disadvantage because she was forced to aim at her attackers armorless head, which made her attacks predictable after a certain amount of time.

But Rona was holding her own while some of the other slayers were not as fortunate. A few from Satsu's group started to hit the floor with cuts and bruises forming. Vi left her back open for a split second and was tackled to the ground, five vampires immediately converging on top of her beating her without stopping.

After several punts to the head and baseball bat shots to the spine and rib cage, Vi was now on the floor coughing up blood. She looked around between the many legs to see if anyone was around to help her. But she realized it was every slayer for themselves rather quickly. She winced and screeched in extreme pain when she heard her ribs crack. She took one last look around while on the floor, desperately searching for enough space to roll away from the circle of her tormentors. But instead all she saw was the armoured vampire catching Rona's armed wrist. Vi watched helplessly as Rona was backhanded in the mouth with his gauntlet and as the vampire raised his fist in the air, bringing it crashing down on Rona's forearm.

"AAAAACCCCAAAHHH!" Rona screamed as her piercing voice, twisted with agony filled the room.

As if time completely stood still, Vi looked on as her lover's bones broke and she fell to her knees. The attacker had his rapier raised high in the air while clenching Rona's wrist and for a whole second, Vi went numb. She couldn't feel emotions… anything menial or physical. As the longest second of her life passed, all Vi could feel was complete and utter rage in its rawest form.

"RRRRRAWWWWRRAAACCH!"

Almost all heads were turned to the eastern lounge entrance. Five vampires were seen falling on their backs, with Vi left standing in the middle of the circle. She was bloodied… swollen… battered, but she had a look of pure insanity on her face couple with the eye of an army of tigers.

Without thinking, Vi grabbed one of her attackers, heaved the vampire up to waist height and threw her as hard as she could toward Rona. Luckily for Rona, the vampire hit both her and her attacker, which sent them both to the ground. Vi was now a woman possessed, feeling nothing but her own rage. She quickly spotted the remains of a broken coffee ta**b**le, and picked it up in time to block an incoming right hook to her face and deliver sweet vengeance to one of her tormentors with a one-eighty degree spin and a staking motion to the chest.

Satsu and Kennedy were true heroes to behold. They were standing their ground along with Dawn in a corner of the room, protecting all of Satsu's team as they were too injured to continue to properly fight.

Andrew was now also behind the heroic trio, while **t**ending to open wounds as best he could with only ripped clothing as bandages. He couldn't help b**ut** remember the last few days in Sunnydale as he ripped their shirts and placed pieces of cloth over their wounds. He managed to drag Rona behind the slayer line with Vi covering him, but he was breathing like he was a chronic chain smoker, gasping for air as though it was disappearing.

So the once might slayers were there… cornered… hurting, their home having been destroyed as they starred death in the vampiric face. Five slayers versus ten, plus their well armoured general. Almost all hope was lost as the vampires clearly had the numbers advantage and were beginning to circle their prey. But suddenly, half of the vampires were sent face first to the floor as something had run into them from behind.

When everyone looked toward the western lounge door, all that could be see was one young teen girl with black raven hair. One young teen girl with black raven hair and blood, sweat and dust dripping off of her face. Once young psychotic teen girl with black raven hair with sweat, blood and dust dripping off her face. One… Dana.

While the remaining standing vampires lost focus, the slayers started to dust as many vampires on the floor as possible. The armoured vampire however, started to make his way over to the young woman. Dana wasn't moving a muscle… only her eyes. When the vampire general was finally within reach of Dana, he raised his rapier above his head, smiling as Dana refused to move. The end was coming for Dana as her enemy swung his sword downward toward the young slayer.

But Dana's end did not arrive. Instead, Dana stood holding the rapier, hand cut and bleeding, showing no emotion, as her enemy looked as if he was gazing into hell itself. With God like speed and precision, Dana threw the rapier's blade into the air, exposing her enemy's chest, and staked the vampire with the stake she had been hiding up her lumberjack sweater.

The tall, dark and undead general took two steps back, wide eyed and fearful. But his death did not arrive as Dana's stake pierced only armor and flesh, not enough to break bone and come in contact with the heart.

He laughed… an evil and unnerving laugh before he spoke.

"What now little girl? You have no weapon…" But before he could finish is speech, Dana strode forward with speed only matched by an enraged Buffy Summers and head butted the end of the stake, pushing it further into his chest.

The general now had a look of despair and fear on his face as he realized what had happened. **He let loose a loud scream before a stake clanked against the lounge hardwood floor.**

Dana looked up toward her sister slayers and to the few remaining vampires, which were now even paler than they used to be. She kept her eyes on them when she spoke.

"I am a weapon," she said in an almost robotic voice.

Her words were the last the remaining vampires would hear as a hockey stick, coffee table leg, baseball bat and cricket racket went right through the remaining intruders.

"Dana! Thank God you're alive!" Satsu announced as she ran toward her sister slayer and embraced her in a hug which took several long seconds to be received and returned.

Dawn and Andrew quickly helped the injured to their feet, and Dawn couldn't help but notice Kennedy' tense and rigid form. Dawn reached out and put a hand on her friend's shoulder, only to have Kennedy shrug it off and walk toward the center of the room facing everyone.

"Everyone listen up!" she shouted. All eyes were on Kennedy now as she was forced to take the reins. "We have to make our way to the basement! We have to arm up and find out what the hell is going on outside. I just hope they didn't destroy our cameras. We also have a lot of injured slayers and no doctor. So this is what we are going to do… Satsu… you man… woman the door and if we're lucky we will have a clear run across the hall to the basement."

Satsu ran to the eastern doorway of the lounge and what she saw made her both sick to her stomach and full of rage. She saw cracked walls, broken furniture and a dozen or so newer slayers and watchers all fending for their lives and having little success. As badly as she wanted to help them, she knew that the remaining in the lounge needed to gear up before they could really help at all. Luckily, all the vampires backs were to the lounge and Satsu waved frantically for what was left of her team and Kennedy's to run down the hall.

"Okay guys, once we get geared up we are gonna…" Kennedy was cut short as she looked at the wall where the weapons had been. The entire arsenal was ruined. All of their weapons were either missing or broken… every crossbow, every bolt, every sword, every axe, every staff… everything. "Those loose pussied undead pieces of horse shit! I swear if I have to I'm gonna… Andrew, why are you feeling up the wall?"

"Mr. Giles told me in case all the weapons were gone or whatever that… Aha! Found it!" The young watcher triumphedly exclaimed as he found the panel he was looking fore and pressed it inward.

The wall did a one-eighty, and where there had only been a wall now displayed familiar weapons, fully sharpened, sheathed, strapped and just begging to be used. Swords, a battle axe, daggers, stakes and finally, THE AXE, the Scythe, in the center of the wall. Every slayer looked at each other with a glint of excitement in their eyes as they rushed to the wall.

They all grabbed a stake and a short dagger, but also a weapon each that caught their eye. Rona, broken arm and all chose the battle axe of one Charles Gunn. Vi chose two Roman Gladius short swords. Everyone could help but chuckle at Dawn's selection of Angel's favourite broadsword which made her look half her size. Satsu's team each took a long sword and Satsu herself took a Katana and a Ninjato. Andrew, knowing that he should be one to add any support possible, grabbed Xander's bow and quiver full of arrows, feeling it best he be long range support which he had grown accustomed to. Andrew also looked through a trunk that had been welded into the wall and pulled out a school bag full of what he guessed could only be Willow's emergency supplies, as well as an old book. Dana smiled that evil smile of hers as she caressed Faith's favourite Twin Butterfly daggers. Finally, everyone looked at Kennedy as they were all expecting the same thing.

Kennedy stepped forward and grabbed the Scythe of the legend herself, Buffy Summers. Like it was meant to be wielded by her alone, Kennedy could feel the power of her weapon as it sent humming vibrations of confidence and strength through every fiber of her being. Once everyone had their weapons strapped to them, Kennedy turned to them once more.

"War Room… Let's move!"

"Damn it! They even took out our TV's!" Kennedy cursed.

"Wait… look!" Satsu quipped as she pointed to a television screen that looked like it was about to fall apart, but was still barely functioning.

Thankfully, the camera covered by foliage above the front door of the castle had not been destroyed. However, the group didn't know what to make of what they saw on the screen. A few yards in front of the castle main doors was a robed and hooded figure, waving its hands around what appeared to be some kind of distorted air, which the slayers could only assume was Willow's barrier. In addition to the mage, a female figure in full French knight plate armor, a kite shield and long sword, stood behind the mage with her long hair floating in the wind.

"So that's how these assholes are getting in here!" Satsu confirmed.

"Andrew… you got anything in that bag of magic tricks that can help us out?" Kennedy asked.

"Well, let's see… Oh… this book is a short spell book written by… Willow?" Oh wow, she even left a table of contents. Remind me to buy her a Zima if we survive."

"Andrew!" Kennedy shouted, jumping the watcher back a step.

"Alright, Alright! Let's see… Well she has a section on barriers but right now we need, ah… here it is. Okay Dawn, I need you to look under the barrier section and see what you find," the young man announced as he was rummaging through the school bag and pulled out a jar of greenish paste.

"Anal lube?" Satsu asked.

"No, according to Willow's grimore, this is supposed to heal open wounds and even help get rid of swelling and bruising. But she said that it doesn't help with broken bones or internal organs. We can't be any help to this house if we're half dead now can we?"

"Great job Andy… now oil us up big boy," Kennedy said as she took a standing star-fish position and gave Andrew a smile and wink that could only be described as Faith-like. Andrew just stood there with jar in hand, frozen with fear and guilt.

"If I see you with a hard on when I put this book down you are never going to play any kind of baseball with me ever again," Daw said. She hadn't even looked up from the book Willow had made that she was reading to know that her team captain was coaxing and teasing her watcher… her boyfriend. Kennedy was smiling ear to ear as she winked again at Andrew and put her hands behind her hair.

"Give us a kiss," Kennedy said with a twinkle of rebellion in her eyes.

Andrew gulped hard, as he started to apply the greenish healing salve onto his and Satsu's team, while chanting and watching in awe as wounds were healing all around him. Finally, it was captain Kennedy's turn. Andrew had the last handful of paste in his hand that was mere inches away from his leader's body. It didn't help Andrew's nerves that Kennedy was protruding her chest forward, waiting for Andrew to touch her.

Finally Satsu came to the young watcher's rescue. She scooped the healing paste from his hand, rubbed it onto both of hers and quickly latched her hands onto Kennedy's breasts. Kennedy gasped in response, both in pain and pleasure as Satsu started to apply the healing salve to Kennedy's upper body wounds. Satsu smiled as she continued and she leaned toward Kennedy's left ear with her face.

"Don't tease your teammates Ken-Flow… It's not nice," Satsu whispered earning a quiet moan from Kennedy in response. Satsu smiled, knowing she was getting to Kennedy and continued, "You only get to be naughty with me." Satsu backed up from Kennedy then, leaving her agitated and with a dumbstruck look on her face.

Andrew looked at Dawn with worry.

"Relax hun… you're right, that was totally hot," Dawn said as she closed Willow's book. The others in the room were all slapping hands and laughing at Dawn's statement and the two captains gave each other a smile, knowing that this might be everyone's last chance to have a laugh.

"Alright! Listen up!" Kennedy demanded, earning her everyone's attention and game faces. "Dawn… what did you learn from Willow's book?" the captain asked the former key.

"I think I know what the robed thingy is doing. It has weakened the barrier that Willow put up, but it can't destroy it. Somehow it is manipulating it so that vampires can enter without an invitation. It explains why we saw it doing a karate kid with air ripples around its hands and it also explains why we aren't all dead right now," Dawn responded.

"What do you mean?" Kennedy asked.

"Think about it… if the barrier is down or if the robed dude **is** making it so it isn't in effect, then anything that is evil could come into the castle right now. So why isn't every evil entity in Scotland knocking down our door? Because Willow's barrier must still be in effect and only the stronger and older vampires can get by it," Dawn explained.

"Makes sense… anything in there about how to put the barrier back up to full strength or how the hell we repel Mr. Robe dude for a second?" Kennedy asked. Dawn opened the book again quickly and began to read.

"Okay, here it is. Willow says that this spell can put the barrier back to full strength but for some reason works best if it is cast from the castle balcony. Which means even if it works for a split second, every vampire in this castle would be thrown out or turned to dust or... I don't know, something bad. I don't really know how that part works. The real problem is after that split second… Mr. Robe dude…" 

"And that isn't the only problem," Andrew spoke up as he was reading the page over Dawn's shoulder, reading the written words from Willow aloud. "This spell took me an extremely long time to be able to perform by myself. Even with Tara's help when I used it on Buffy's house to uninvite Angelus and Spike, the spell left me with headaches for a week and I randomly bled from my ears and nose… Dawn there is no way in hell I'm letting you do this!" Andrew shouted as he stopped reading the page out loud.

"We both know that I have the best shot of everyone here to pull this off… Willow has been training me so I can tap into my mystical essenceness…es… it's the only way to help save us all," Dawn replied to her watcher.

"No it isn't…" Andrew started by Dawn quickly cut him off.

"Look, I know you love me and don't want me to do this but I'm the slayer here, this is my duty, not yours."

"No Dawn look," Andrew said as he pointed to the next notation on the page, reading aloud once again. "For the best way for a lesser witch to cast this spell with minimal damage to the caster**,** see the section on joining forces." The two looked up and caught one another's eyes before flipping through the book to the Joining Forces section and Andrew started to read aloud again.

"Okay so, blach blach blach, joining life forces, blah blah, Oh, here we go… Willow even highlighted the part and wrote the barrier spell page number."

"Guys you are killing us here!" Kennedy shouted loudly getting more and more impatient by the second.

"Hold your hornies Ken," Dawn replied with a little chuckle before she continued to read. "Okay, I think I know how to do this without killing myself. There's a chant here that allows a person to transfer his or her life force to another being, as long as both are of sound mind and both are willing… also it says… oh…" Dawn trailed off.

"Oh? What oh?" Kennedy demanded to know.

"It says that Willow only used this spell with Tara because it forms a deep connection between the two parties."

All eyes fell upon Dawn and Andrew. Dawn looked upward and started into the face of her watcher, searching his eyes to see if he was ready for the commitment that needed to be made t save their family and friends. Once Andrew realized what Dawn was silently asking of him, without hesitation he leaned forward and planted a passionate kiss on his girlfriend's lips.

"Alright… here's the plan," Kennedy said as she jumped onto the war room table with vigor. "We are going to take five, stretch and give the love birds here some time to get ready for what they have to do. Then we are gonna fight our way to the rooftop. Bite, claw, eye gouge, sack kick, whatever has to be done to get there ASAP… Satsu!"

"Hai" Satsu shouted with a nod.

"You, Dana and your crew follow behind us, guarding our backs and helping any slayers that need it along the way. I don't wanna tell you how to run your group but if you and yours is forced to say behind I could really use Dana when my team gets up there."

"Hai!" Satsu shouted with a nod.

The five minutes seemed to pass all too quickly before they were up and Satsu was addressing her group.

"Alright everyone, our main objective is to get Dawn and Andrew to the roof so they can cast the spell. That means protect them at all costs until the spell is cast. Any questions?" Satsu asked.

She looked around and no one made any indication that they had any questions, much to her relief. Kennedy took the opportunity and spoke up.

"No? Okay, remember… this is our home… OUR HOME! And we have to defend it! Now who are we?"

"SLAYERS!" everyone shouted back to Kennedy with Satsu standing by her side.

"I SAID WHO THE FUCK ARE WE?" Kennedy shouted again.

"WE… ARE… SLAYERS!" everyone including Kennedy and Satsu shouted with ferocity. Kennedy then jumped off of the war room table and stood in front of the door leading to the stairs as every soldier took their position behind her.

"In the words of Al Bundy… Leeettt'ssss Roooccckkk… aaaaaaarrrraaaaaa!"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Every one of the slayers in the group made it to the 4th level via the stairs before being forced to fight their way tot the roof top balcony. Satsu's team was guarding team Kennedy's rear while team Kennedy was fighting the majority of vampiric activity. After all, Kennedy's team had all been a part of the battle against the First, and they were far more prepared to deal with the numbers of vampires and demons that were coming out from every which way. Both teams were fuelled by hatred and rage as they saw many young slayers, some barely into their teens, dead on the hallway floors. The worst came when the two groups started to check in the dorm rooms for survivors. As heartbroken as they all were to see so many young women and girls dead, nothing could have prepared them for what they found when they entered the last dorm.

Four male vampires were feeding off of and raping two teenage slayers who couldn't even fight back a**s** they were on the brink of unconsciousness. There was nothing that was going to save the four monsters from what was about to happen to them as the group that entered gave a blood curdling scream and Satsu and Kennedy's teams charged the vampires and pinned all four to the ground. Satsu and Kennedy were looming over all four undead, half naked bodies.

Kennedy went to open her mouth, but couldn't find words that were vile enough for what she wanted to say to the monsters. She could feel the bile rising up in her stomach and felt as her anger took over inside of her body. She began fiercely kicking a defenseless vampire in his exposed groin as soon as she reached him. Satsu followed suit, feeling the anger bubbling inside as well. After only a minute of agonizing screams, both team captains stopped to catch their breath and watched as their victims passed out, sprawling out on the floor.

"Please have mercy… we were only following orders, just kill us please!" one of the four remaining vampires begged.

Before either Kennedy or Satsu had a chance to react, Dana rose from her spot like a spring, which surprised everyone. She bared no emotions as she strode to the vampire, pinned him down and grabbed a stake out of her back pocket, driving it to the floor sinking it into the vampire's groin. The wooden object went straight though and pinned him to the ground below. The vampire howled in pain but was caught off guard by Dana's furious yelling.

"Mercy? Mercy? You want mercy! Here's your fucking mercy!" Dana yelled as she started to slowly but sternly twist the stake that was pinning the vampire down, earning her more screams from the monster.

"Please, I'll tell you anything… just kill me quickly," the only unharmed vampire began to beg.

Dana stopped twisting the stake and turned and looked over her shoulder to the team leaders. Kennedy nodded at Dana when she caught her eyes and walked over to where the vampire was standing. The monster kept his eyes firmly focused on his vampire friend that was currently being pinned down on the ground with Dana's stake and only looked up when he noticed Kennedy standing directly in front of him. She looked him up and down with pure rage on her face and in her eyes.

"Who is the armoured bitch on my property and what the fuck does she want?" Kennedy demanded. The vampire tried to back up further against the wall at the tone of Kennedy's voice. But he had no where to go, so instead he cleared his throat.

"She is our leader… she wants to end every slayer in existence until only the one called Faith is left. Then she wishes to turn her, how I don't know. Her plan was to capture you and your friends and use you as bait so she can then capture Faith. That's all I know… I swear!" he exclaimed with a shake in his voice.

"What's your leader's name?" Satsu demanded as she made her way over, standing in a defensive position next to Kennedy.

"I don't know… only the higher ups are allowed to know or even speak her name," the vampire pleaded.

"So then what's your name?" Satsu asked. The calm in her voice was eerie as she eyed him up and down.

"Trevor… my name is… is… Trevor."

"Okay Trevor… remember how I agreed that I wouldn't mutilate you if you told us what we wanted to know?" Kennedy asked. She watched as the vampire gulped in fear and looked back down at his friend still pinned to the ground with Dana's stake. "I lied." She then kicked him as hard as she could in the groin and quickly plunged a stake into his chest, watching as he turned to dust. The others followed and the three remaining vampires also turned to dust following Trevor.

Kennedy rose to her feet and everyone grabbed their weapons. Kennedy could feel everyone's eyes on her and she knew this was one of those moments where she again was going to have to step up and be the leader.

"Satsu, you and your team stay here, guard the way to the rooftop and save what lives you can. Everyone else, you are with me. Defend the love birds at all times. Dana, you're coming with me and guarding Andrew and Dawn. If we are alone up there then you can come back down and defend our exit. If not, I'm counting on you to defend them both. Any questions?" Kennedy asked as she looked around at the others. "No? Okay, let's move!"

As they made their way to the stairwell that led to the roof, there was silence among all of them. They were trying to be quiet, as not to tip off any of the vampires to what they were doing and where they were headed. But a lot of the silence was because no one knew quite what to say. They were in the middle of a huge battle, in their own home, without the Chosen Two there to guide them and help them. Even Kennedy's team, as experienced as they all were with big battles, were starting to wish that Buffy and Faith were there with them.

As Team Kennedy and Dana reached the rooftop, they were relieved to see that nobody was on the roof. It would give them more time to get things set up and done properly if they weren't interrupted with fighting. They all looked into the distance and over the balcony as they made their way to the edge. Their eyes went wide when they caught sight of the robed figure, a female knight and at least a hundred vampires trying to get past Willow's barrier that was barely holding up now.

"Dawn, start getting set up just in case. I have an idea," Andrew stated. Dawn didn't question him and backed away from the edge and began to take things out of the bag that were needed for the spell. Andrew withdrew an arrow from his quiver and took aim at the robed figure, eventually releasing the arrow. He watched as it travelled through the air and connected with the robed figure… straight through his head. The figure fell to the ground in pain, holding his head and Andrew hoped that with the mage vampire down, it would allow the barrier they had in place to hold and deny any of the others access to the castle.

But instead, a lot of shouting came from below as all the vampires that were surrounding the outside of the castle began to storm inside.

"Bad idea! Oooo! Bad idea!" Andrew cried out as she watched in horror from the rooftop.

Before anyone had a chance to chastise the young watcher for what he had done, Satsu's team burst onto the balcony and tried to barricade the door with a desk chair that one of her slayers had carried up. Satsu stole a glance at Kennedy and frowned at the other team leader.

"What the fuck did you did?" she asked, out of breath, using all of her body weight to hold against the door.

"Dawn! Start whenever you can!" Andrew shouted, not giving Kennedy a chance to reply to Satsu. Andrew turned back to look down at the grounds below and withdrew another arrow from his quiver. He took aim one more time at the armored lady on the property and silently held his breath. He released the arrow and watched as it flew through the air. For a brief moment, Andrew was relieved as the arrow made its way to its intended target. But the instead of it hitting the armoured lady as Andrew had intended, he watched as the female knight raised her shield and blocked the arrow at the last possible second. It was then that the lady raised her head and looked up at her attacker and then that Andrew first got a good look at the fair haired, beautiful and familiar looking woman. He knew he had seen her before, but with everything going on he couldn't recall exactly where. Plus, he wasn't exactly great when it came to remembering faces and names.

"Andrew, I'm ready!" Dawn shouted, breaking Andrew from his gaze with the female knight. Dawn started to perform the spell which would recast the barrier and hopefully cease the attack on their home. Andrew took his place behind Dawn with his hand on her shoulder, skin touching skin. Dana took her place in front of the two spell casters, as the rest of the slayers stood in front of the exit door holding it closed with all their might as it was being hammered on from the other side.

Finally, after a few more seconds, the weight was too much for all of the slayers to hold the door closed. The door crashed to the floor and vampires started to pour out like soup onto the rooftop. As if facing the enormous amount of vampires wasn't enough, the slayers quickly noticed the vampires were all armed with knives, crowbars, baseball bats… and a few even had swords.

Kennedy could feel the rush of battle and the power of the scythe as she jumped into the fray, spinning in a whirl-winding dust filled hurricane of death and destruction. She sliced anything that got too close. Vampires soon managed to get around her, but it didn't really matter… they were met by Satsu's crew. Unfortunately, even more vampires started to rush past Kennedy, gaining Vi's attention. Vi let loose a scream as she charged her enemies head on, decapitating anything without a pulse with one Gladius and parrying anything solid that came near her with the other Gladius.

Rona was right behind Vi, ready to back her up which she needed to do as the waves of vampires started to flood the rooftop. Rona used the same waiting technique she used in Sunnydale. She stood behind Vi as best she could, letting vampires running past her left flank towards Dana. At the last second, she stepped out from Vi's shadow and decapitated any vampire that had dare run by her. It worked well for her on the left flank, but did nothing for her right as vampires started to run toward Satsu.

Satsu was unfortunate enough to have to take on a few vampires which were armed with long swords. She relished the chance to test the blades of her people for the first time however, and she had watched way too much anime and knew some Bushito forms. She knew that her Ninjato gave her an edge when striking with it as soon as it was unsheathed. She crouched slightly, waiting for her enemies to get close enough so that they raised their swords in the air. When they did, she dashed forward, unsheathing her Ninjato at the same time, splitting open the belly of one of her attackers and quickly turning mid-stride, using her blade to expose the spine of another vampire. One vampire was left trying to swing at Satsu, she attempted to strike her opponent but could not get a successful hit in. Instead, she purposely fell onto her knees and grabbed at her ankle, watching as her enemy smiled and raised his sword above her head ready to deliver a death blow. Instead, she withdrew a small dagger from beneath her Sundin jersey and threw it into her attacker's throat. She didn't have time to think about her close brush with death however, because as she stood she saw two vampires with sledgehammers making their way up the stairs to Kennedy. Satsu took a deep breath, sheathed her Ninjato, drew her Kitana and charged to the other team leader's side.

Dana saw three vampires starting to run past Rona toward the two she was protecting and smiled sadistically as she slowly reached behind her back. In almost two seconds flat, Dana unsheathed her Butterfly daggers and pierced the heart of the middle vampire, opened the throat of another on her left and finally did a one-eighty turn and buried her dagger into the heart of the last vampire, hilt deep.

The junior slayers seemed to be holding their own as the barrier spell was being recast, however the numbers game was finally catching up to them and they knew they needed this spell to work… and soon.

After a few minutes, small pockets of vampires formed around or on top of each slayer. The slayers were being beaten on, fed off of and sometimes both. The only slayer who was not currently being harmed was Dana, but with the amount of blood she was losing and with the pace she needed to keep up in order to protect Andrew and Dawn, she knew she was about to lose… it was only a matter of time. Finally after only another minute, Dana hit the ground for good as a vampire managed to sucker punch her in the side of the jaw with brass knuckles.

Kennedy was now restrained and was being fed off of, when she saw Dana fall. She cursed herself for not being better… not being more of a leader but quickly focused her attention back on her attackers as one grabbed the scythe… Buffy's scythe… her scythe.

"I'm not supposed to kill you, but that doesn't mean I can't make you scream," the vampire hissed at Kennedy.

In what seemed like god-like timing, and before the vampire could use the weapon, a white and bluish light illuminating from behind Dawn caught everyone's attention. Andrew and Dawn were glowing white, eyes glazed over, shivering, shaking and bleeding from their eyes, noses and ears while they continued to chant in what Kennedy knew was a foreign language. Within seconds, a pre-bomb detention sound was heard and then the blinding white and bluish light engulfed the castle from where Dawn and Andrew were chanting.

Vampires all over the castle and on the rooftop burned to ash as soon as the light touched them. As the light faded from the two spell casters, they fell on top of one another, both unconscious. The slayers were sprawled on the rooftop floor everywhere, all of them injured and fighting just to stay awake. Kennedy managed to stand up and gripped her sides as she stumbled toward the balcony's edge to see how it had all turned out. No matter how much pain she was in… she knew she had to assess the damage.

She saw dozens of vampires retreating from the castle premises and watched as the female knight stared back at her from the ground below with evil intent.

"Slayers! Rule this day! I underestimated your clan! You won this battle! But I will be back in just a few days time! You will FALL! For the sake of my kind everywhere… YOU WILL FALL! I SWEAR IT!" shouted the female knight as she kept her eyes locked on Kennedy. The look made a chill run down Kennedy's spine as the woman's eyes bore into hers.

The armoured woman then turned, sheathed her sword and slowly walked away, not once looking back at the castle or up onto the rooftop where Kennedy was standing. Kennedy thankfully turned and slumped to her butt, back sliding against the railing, taking a moment to catch her breath and take in her surroundings.

Satsu's crew were all badly wounded, but they were all alive. Vi was holding a whimpering and crying Rona and was carefully holding Rona's broken arm in her hands. Dana was slowly starting to show signs of life and Satsu was limping her way over to Kennedy, desperately trying to see out of both of her swelling eyes.

When she reached the other team leader, Satsu offered her hand to Kennedy and pulled her up to her feet. They leaned on one another, supporting each other once Kennedy stood.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Satsu said as she looked over the other team captain. They both chuckled slightly as they started to limp toward their regrouping parties. Satsu's team had formed a circle around Vi and Rona, helping them stand by offering them hands to pull them up carefully. By the time they were all together again, Kennedy and Satsu now in the center of the group, Dawn was finally starting to stir.

"Mmmm.. did we win?" Dawn asked as she slowly opened her eyes and began to rise. Dana and one of Satsu's girls made their way over to the former key and now slayer, and helped Dawn to her feet. They kept a hold on her to make sure she was stable enough to stand on her own before they let her go.

"We won… for now," Kennedy said as the slayer circle reformed around her.

"What does that mean… for now?" Vi asked.

"This isn't over… I'm sure of it," Kennedy replied. She took a look around at all the others standing around her. "I know you are all barely conscious and the last thing you want after a fight like that is more orders… but we can't just go to bed yet okay… we have some things we have to do first and then I promise you we can all crash, okay?" Kennedy asked as she looked at the girls surrounding her. "How many of you were bitten?" she questioned.

Almost all of the slayers raised their hands into the air slowly, looking around as they did. Dawn glanced at all the hands raised and her eyes filled with fear.

"Does anyone have any idea if vampires can turn slayers the traditional way… you know, feeding off of them and then having them feed off of the vampire?" she asked, worried for the safety of her friends.

"No… a slayer can't be turned the traditional way," Andrew slurred very slowly as he began to move. His eyes remained closed as she responded to Dawn's question. Dawn's eyes lit up at the sound of her boyfriend's voice and she ran over to his side in an instant ready to help him up onto his feet. He however, was too weak to stand, so instead she sat down on the ground, cradling his head in her lap as the rest of the girls made their way over to where Dawn and Andrew now were.

"Thank god. That's good news," Kennedy responded to Andrew's previous response once she saw that the young man was alright. "Now,… I know you aren't going to like this but we have to collect our girls… the ones who didn't make it. They all deserve a proper burial and I'm not going to let them go without it. I don't think we have the strength to actually bury them all right now, so I think instead we should find a room that we can put the bodies in until we have more strength tomorrow. That is, if we have more strength tomorrow," Kennedy said with pain obvious in her voice as she winced when she put pressure on her right leg. No one said a word and merely nodded at her.

"Someone should collect the weapons as well," Satsu said quietly from her spot and Kennedy nodded in agreement.

"Dawn, when you get Andrew situated inside, I need you to find any contact information that was left for us… any council members, coven members, the number to Buffy's hotel, Soul-Boy's phone numbers… anything. We can't win this one alone, especially if we are the only ones alive."

"Where should we meet when we are finished?" Vi asked.

"Buffy's room, it was one of the only ones that wasn't ransacked I think… so let's get to it… the faster we finish the faster we can rest," Kennedy finished, watching as everyone nodded around her once more.

* * *

><p>It was two hours later when the eleven surviving people in the castle met in Buffy Summers bedroom. No one was saying much of anything, all of their minds lost deep with their own thoughts of everything that had just happened hours before. Satsu and Kennedy were the last to enter Buffy's bedroom. They were carrying with them Faith's king size mattress which they had just taken from her now ransacked room.<p>

No one said it, but they all knew they were thinking the same thing. After a battle like that and so many of their friends and colleagues gone, they didn't want to be alone tonight in their own rooms. No one needed to say how the battle had affected them, as it was clear by the looks on all of their faces that this was a night that would haunt them for a long time. They had each lost friends tonight… girls they had spent the past month or so getting to know.

They were all silent as Dana and Vi pulled Buffy's mattress off of her bed and shoved it on the floor next to Faith's that had been laid down on the floor by Ken and Satsu. The mattresses were pushed together, creating one large mattress big enough for all of them to rest on.

Everyone found a spot on the mattresses. No one spoke or argued over who was going to sleep next to who, or complained about how much room someone else was taking. Instead they all found a spot to claim as their own tonight, some of them already laying back, using their hands to rest their heads on. Kennedy and Satsu stood in the middle of the room and looked around, waiting until everyone had found a spot, knowing that something had to be said before they called it a night.

"Dawn, any luck with anything?" Kennedy asked hopefully. She had never thought she would miss high and mighty Buffy Summers but right now all she wanted was to hear that Dawn had gotten a hold of her sister and that they were on their way back to the castle to help them.

"Buffy's hotel is in the middle of a tropical storm… nothing to worry about but their phones are out so it looks like we will have to wait it out to get a hold of them. I did manage to get in touch with Spike… he and Angel are on their way here now… they should be here sometime tomorrow afternoon," Dawn said quietly as she rested her head back on the mattress.

"And you guys?" Satsu asked her team who had been in charge of gathering all the bodies of the young slayers who hadn't been as lucky in the battle.

"All the bodies are gathered, tarped and ready for burial tomorrow… we put the shovels we could find in the same room," one of them responded almost in a robotic nature.

"We gathered all the weapons we could find," Vi said quietly as she stroked Rona's hair next to her. I put them in a pile on the floor of the same room… figured we could sort through them in the morning and take inventory of what we have then," she finished.

"Good… now Ken and I have something we want to say to you… Ken?" Satsu said, looking over at her and stepping back handing the floor to Kennedy.

"Look… I know we are all terrified right now. I'm the first one to say it and I hate to admit it. We don't have Buffy and Faith here of any of the Scoobies to help us and this is the first time we've been on our own without any of them. In a few days we have to face what we just did… probably times ten. We lost too many lives tonight I know. We are broken, hurting and nothing but a bunch of lucky losers if you ask me. But we are proud of each and every one of you. You all fought with everything you had and did everything you could and we couldn't be more proud."

Satsu slowly got on both knees and bowed before everyone.

"We are honored to call you our family. Without every one of you, none of us would be alive. We love you all and we promise you next time we will not just win the battle… we will win this war," Satsu said from her position on the floor.

Despite the lack of energy, the team leader's moving speeches had given the remaining slayers just enough energy. Dawn was the first to reach up and make contact with Kennedy's hand, pulling her down to the mattress below while Kennedy latched on to Satsu's hand and pulled her down with her. As soon as the two leaders hit the mattress, they were entangled in a group hug with the remaining slayers. It surprised both Kennedy and Satsu, but they both accepted and embraced their family briefly. As soon as the group hug was finished, the girls began to arrange themselves on the mattress, silence falling over them once more.

From the left lay Rona, Vi, Dawn, Andrew, Kennedy, Satsu, Dana and the rest of Satsu's team. They were all in close contact with the person on either side of them, seeking out comfort and shelter from the horrific events of the night. Their minds wandered, some of them replaying the battle over and over in their minds, while others held back tears that were springing to their eyes as they thought about all they had lost and what was to come next. Dawn couldn't hold back her tears, letting one single one drip from her eye as she wished that her sister were there to have her back.

Someone eventually threw a shoe at the light fixture, which turned the lights off and everyone closed their eyes, trying to get some rest. Everyone except for Kennedy who opened her eyes and smiled into the darkness, holding back the chuckle that wanted to escape.

"I knew you wanted to grab my chest," she said playfully as she felt a hand on her breast.

"Sorry," Andrew spoke out sheepishly as he retracted his hand in embarrassment.

"Andrew!" Dawn shouted at the young watcher, her eyes just now adjusting to the darkness and she saw as Andrew blushed. Everyone else managed a well deserved laugh out of the exchange.

"He just wants to be my bitch… C'mere Andy," Kennedy said with a smile as she pulled Andrew toward her and wrapped him into a hug. She released him from her hold but he didn't stray too far from her side. And Kennedy didn't mind it, although she usually would because as much as she didn't want to admit it, she needed the comfort just as much as the rest of them did. It didn't take long after that for the pull of sleep to take over Kennedy and the rest of the slayers, thoughts of the impending battle haunting their dreams.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Notes:** Just a reminder... some things from the Angel storyline were added in to fit our needs :)

Fifteen

The shrill sound of the doorbell ringing over and over and over again made it impossible for Andrew to fall back to sleep.

"Alright already! Jeez… can't a guy get some rest after facing an onslaught in his home?" Andrew complained as he made his way down what was left of the castle stairs. He was silently cursing himself for being such a light sleeper, since the rest of the slayers were still sleeping quietly, not stirring even a little bit at the sound of the doorbell.

When he reached the door, he opened it, half squinting as he tried to adjust his eyes to the light in the room. His eyes popped open when he heard a familiar voice.

"About time you flaming nit! Why the hell are your pants off… and why are you wearing Power Rangers boxers?" the voice asked.

As his eyes relayed the image to his brain, he finally managed to look up at Angel and Spike who stood in the doorway, Spike with a cigarette hanging from his mouth and Angel doing everything he could not to stare at the young watcher. As soon as Andrew saw the two vampires, he didn't give them even a moment before he lunged forward and hugged them both tightly.

"Ey! You better put some bloody pants on before you hug me!" Spike said as he pushed the young man off of him.

"Spike? Is that you?" Dawn's voice came from behind Andrew.

Andrew turned his head and smiled at his girlfriend, and the two vampires moved their gaze from the young watcher to the young woman they both loved like a sister. Their eyes opened wide when they noticed she was standing behind him, wearing only a long Transformers t-shirt and bed hair that would put Buffy's to shame. Spike's face fell into shock as he glanced at Dawn, then to Andrew, and back again.

"Hey everyone! Get down here! Spike and Angel are here!" Dawn yelled up the stairs, not giving either vampire a chance to question her attire. It was only a few seconds more before Spike's cigarette fell from his mouth as he watched 8 girls come running down the stairs, all wearing nothing but short nightgowns or large over sized t-shirts. Angel hadn't managed to move his stare from Dawn and she smiled at him as she moved closer. "Guy's, come in already!" she hollered at them both as she tugged at both their arms, pulling them into the castle. She wrapped her arms around them both tightly.

Angel was the first one to say something, as the tight hug became uncomfortable for him with Dawn wearing practically nothing.

"Uhh… Dawnie… this may not be my place to ask you this, but why are Andrew's pants off and why are you wearing nothing more than a piece of cloth to cover you?" He had a protective and fatherly tone in his voice that made Dawn smile as she pulled back from the hug. The girls that had made their way down the stairs began to laugh at Angel's question. Dawn joined in on the laughter, and pointed at Andrew with her thumb.

"He wishes," she said jokingly.

Both vampires let out a sigh of relief, after holding in air that their bodies didn't even need. Andrew moved behind the two vampires and went to close the castle door, only for it to be stopped by a red leathered hand. Andrew jumped back several feet as the door opened more and a blue haired and red leather wearing woman entered the castle and closed the door behind herself. Andrew was clinging tightly to Dawn's hand as the woman entered the castle.

Ilyria looked over at Andrew, then over to the group of girls and then back to Andrew once more, cocking her head to the side.

"Congratulations on being the alpha male. Did you lay your seed in all these females?" Ilyria asked in her robotic way that made Andrew cringe once more. Everyone in the room with exception of Dawn, Andrew and Ilyria let out a huge groan of disgust at Ilyria's suggestion. Andrew smiled a big smile and looked over at Ilyria.

"No… not all of them," he said confidently.

"Alright… I think the vamps have had enough of a show. Everyone get dressed and we can meet and discuss everything," Kennedy said, the leader in her coming out once more despite being only half awake.

Everyone started to make their way up the stairs, with Spike, Angel and Ilyria barely moving any inside the castle. As the girls and Andrew made their way to find some clothes to put on, only one slayer remained standing in the entry way. She was staring at Spike with tears in her eyes and had backed up toward the staircase. Spike strode over to the super powered girl he had met in L.A., and showed no emotion on his face as he did so. He loomed over the girl as she kept her focus solely on her feet, trying desperately to hold back the tears.

After a few seconds, Spike reached out and put his hand on the girl's shoulder, before pulling the now sobbing Dana into his arms. She clung to him, hugging him like her life depended on it and he did nothing but hug her more tightly. She finally looked up at the bleach blonde vampire and moved her mouth to speak. But before she had a chance to say anything, Spike cut her off with words of his own.

"I forgive you pet… now go on with the rest of them and get dressed… we can talk more later," he said calmly and in the most sincere voice he had. Dana's face contorted into a huge smile and she hugged Spike one last time, burying her face into his chest. When the hug ended, she didn't say anything before she took off up the stairs, seeking out the rest of her friends and some clothes for the day.

Before Angel even had a chance to fully open his mouth after watching the exchange between the vampire and the young slayer, Spike cut him off.

"Not one word peaches… not one word. And tell your blue bird over there to quit staring at me… it's creeping me out."

* * *

><p>"Alright, so I'll cut the chase and give you a basic run down of what went down," Kennedy said as she looked between the two vampires and the demon that were seated across from her.<p>

"Please, Dawn didn't give us any information… all she said was there was an attack and she needed our help," Angel responded and Spike nodded is head in agreement.

"So the Scoobs took off and went on vacation… everything had been going so well that they thought they could get away for a week or so. Then we got attacked by an armada of vampires and a robed figure that was doing magic and a lady knight sort of thing with armour all over."

"Has anyone called Buffy?" Spike asked, looking directly at Dawn with the question.

"I tried to contact her… but a tropical storm hit where they are and the resort is on generator power… so no phone lines are working. I tried their cell phones but they must not get service there because the calls wouldn't go through," Dawn replied.

"So we have a room full of bodies that we need your help disposing of, and we are the only ones left. Other than a handful of weapons, everything else was destroyed and all our surveillance equipment is either missing or damaged beyond repair," Kennedy said as she finished up the basic story she had been telling.

"How did you all manage to survive the battle?" Angel asked from his spot at the table.

"The Scoobies left us supplies, I guess in case there was an emergency."

"It was definitely an emergency," Vi spoke up from her seat and Angel looked over at her and smiled warmly.

"Exactly, so we used what they had left us and Dawn and Andy here performed a spell to re-enforce the barrier… that incinerated the rest of the vamps that were in the castle," Kennedy explained.

"It was just a mass group of vamps? They weren't working for someone else?" Spike asked as he fished around in his pocket looking for his pack of cigarettes.

"They were working for someone alright… their leader is some ginger in full armour and a kite shield. She gave us a friendly warning before she left that she's planning on coming back with a vengeance. Most likely with more force than she had before and as soon as she finds a new magic source to break down our barrier."

"So basically you are saying that it's us against a vampire army, a non-Turo Kan vampire army, which you guys defeated before you were properly trained?" Angel asked sounding a lot more condescending than Kennedy really appreciated.

"Angel, you know we all appreciate you and Spike coming, but go fuck yourself," she responded before she could censor the words from tumbling out of her mouth. She was tired, and she had lost friends last night. The last thing she needed was a scolding from a several century old vampire.

"Here, here!" Spike cheered from beside Dana, and everyone in the room glanced over to the blonde vampire, including Angel.

"I'm sorry Ken, but I think that you guys would have been able to deal with normal vampires on your turf, even without Buffy and the gang," he said.

"They must have been spying on us for quite awhile… they struck exactly when we were recovering from our hang… hard and intensive schedules and patrols," Dawn interjected, catching herself before disclosing they had thrown a party the night before the attack. Andrew joined in on the defense.

"They also took out our surveillance systems which means they managed to get past Willow's barrier alarm and mark where they needed to strike at our electrical system. That means they must have been spying on us and marking out the lay of the land before they attacked us. Our home field advantage was gone," he finished.

Angel stood up from his spot, being the natural leader that he was and started pacing around the room like the Angel they all knew he was.

"Okay, so what do we know about our enemies?" he asked, looking around the room for someone to speak up. Everyone looked at him in silence and the seconds ticked by without a response from anyone. He sighed deeply and spoke again. "Alright then, everyone grab a book and look for a fair haired female vampire who wears armor."

* * *

><p>After three hours with little results and continuous no's from Andrew, a unamimosu break was taken. Chips and drinks were passed all around to those that were hungry and that is when a spot of luck finally occurred. As Andrew was eating some Ruffles, he noticed one of the books open to a picture of a woman warrior with a sword raised high in the air. For some reason he couldn't take his eyes off the picture until he noticed the words right below the picture. He sat there still wondering why he knew something, but he couldn't recall for the life of him what it was he really knew.<p>

And like a lightening bolt hit him, Andrew's eyes went wide and he jumped up out of his seat, running to the academic side of the destroyed library. The young watcher made his way to the back table with a history book in his hand and planted it onto the table. He frantically went through the pages until he found what he was looking for and pointed at the picture and its description. Everyone's eyes went wide with disbelief as they read over his shoulder.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! Andrew your one hundred percent sure this is her?" Andrew didn't even respond with words, he merely nodded his head at Kennedy. "Great, just fucking great! The bitch is Joan of fucking Arc!" Kennedy shot her eyes over to the two oldest males in the room. "Do you guys know anything about a vamp Joan of Arc?"

The two en-souled vampires looked at one another, then looked back at Kennedy, shrugging at the same time.

"Wait a minute… how the hell is it possible that we're facing a vampyric SAINT Joan of Arc? Who the hell screwed up the history books for us to be facing SAINT Joan of Arc?" Andrew questioned, clearly puzzled at his own discovery.

"I think I have a pretty good idea on how your bloody saint is a vamp," Spike spoke out. "Say the books are right and this bird was burned at the stake. Now say some old vampire swoops in and saves her, destroys the village, turns the bird and then spreads the word of Joan's fake death. Or a vampire could have taken her burnt body while the crowd was distracted and turned her. It wasn't hard to do what you wanted and not get caught before cameras," Spike admitted.

"Why does this Saint trouble you so? Whatever a Saint is," Ilyria questioned.

"A Saint is like a chosen person by God to do something and this person obviously always succeeds. People decide whether or not that person is worthy of being a Saint. That means Joan of Arc will have a ridiculous number of followers. She will have followers and allies that she recruited from the moment she was declared chosen by God until now," Dawn explained the blue woman, who was staring at her with a blank expression.

"That means big blue, that we're gonna need an army and we don't have one," Kennedy declared, clearly frustrated with the piles of bad news that kept on coming.

Ilyria tilted her head to the right as she spoke.

"Yes, young slayer, you do. Look to the east of your kingdom," Ilyria declared in that robotic way that made Kennedy's skin crawl.

Everyone stood with exception of the blue one herself and made their way to the library window.

"Um… why didn't anyone tell us we have a jet and a demon army camped out on our lawn?" Kennedy asked in shock at what she was seeing.

"We thought it would be more dramatic if you saw it for yourself," Angel said with a smile on his face. Kennedy looked up at him and smiled herself.

"Angel… go fuck yourself," she said playfully.

* * *

><p>"Ilyria… what the fuck… how the fuck?" Kennedy asked in bewilderment as every soul in the castle was now passing demon after demon and tent after tent on the eastern side of the lawn with weapons at the ready just in case. After passing an army of demons, the small band of heroes walked upon the main demon campsite. Ilyria's tent was in the middle and was the size of a large storage garage. Circling Ilyria's mini house stood a few large tents that were all the size of a large shed.<p>

As the group came to the burning night fires of the main camp fire pit, Ilyria waved her hand around her mid section and two random members of the Sahrvin clan brought a big wooden chair behind her.

"My lady," a random Vinja clan member said, bowing before the blue haired woman while also offering her a drink. By now all of team Kennedy and team Satsu were looking at Ilyria as she sat and drank, with their mouths agape. Andrew was the first to speak out, which didn't surprise anyone.

"Um… Queen Ilyria… how are there different clans here… ones that are sworn enemies and rivals with one another… and how are they not killing each other?" he asked.

As other demons gathered around and brought benches and stools for Ilyria's guests to sit on, Ilyria decided to tell her once comrades in arms her story since she had left L.A.

"I suppose I should tell you all what I have been doing with my mortal life since I've seen you all last. I knew that I was no yet ready to co-exist with large groups of mortals, so Angel bought me passage to Africa and after our last battled, I sailed in search of my role in this new world. I soon found Africa was not the land I thought it to be. Humans were continuously expanding and I feared that within a few decades time, Africa would be completely conquered by modern man. I searched through the books and peoples for a land I could call my own before leaving Africa and I found it in what modern man calls… the Middle East. I wished to remain in solitude for a while, but I could not. That land, my new home was ravened by war from both demons and man. Desert and oceanic tribes fought each other for basic resources to survive. Man fought man and demon alike for black liquids that came out of the ground. I quickly learned what the purpose for my new mortal life was. To once again build and rule my kingdom. I united all the demon clans in my territory by force when necessary… and under my banner, my kingdom has grown and prospered in peace. And before you and your slayers try to interfere with my rule, not one of my clan hunts humans… and will only harm a human in self defense. My clan even has trade negotiations set with some of the tribes of man. It was not long after I united the clans that Angel and Spike came to me, looking for a slayer. They heard of my new kingdom and sought me out, after receiving the call from you all for aid."

"Don't you have anyone that can lead your people while you are away? A council to guide your clan if you aren't there?" Satsu asked. Ilyria looked at Asian woman with piercing blue eyes and Satsu could have sworn that she saw a cocky smile form on the blue woman's mouth.

"What you see before you child, is just over half of my clan. I have a chosen few that rule in my place and care for the old and young ones," Ilyria explained.

Angel and Spike both looked in disbelief at the blue haired queen and then looked at one another. Neither vampire could believe that the once "take no prisoners" Ilyria was not ruling over her kingdom with an iron fist. Without having to say a word, both grandchild and grand-sire nodded to each other, in recognition of Wesley's role in Ilyria's caring and peaceful rule.

"So Ilyria, about what you said earlier today in the library… about our army?" Kennedy asked the demon queen.

"My clan is yours if you will it," Ilyria responded, but this time the robotic way in which she spoke didn't bother Kennedy like it had just moments before.

All eyes were on Kennedy and Satsu as the two looked over at Ilyria for a few seconds with very serious looks on their faces, before turning back to each other. Suddenly, the two team leaders shook their heads and laughed before Kennedy waved her hands in the air.

"Why the fuck not! We need all the help we can get. This is going to be weird as fuck though!" Kennedy announced.

Ilyria handed her goblet she had been drinking from back to the demon that had given it to her, and then turned to address the slayers.

"Now in order for me and my clan to help you as best we can, tell me… what weapons and training have you had since the last time we met?" Ilyria asked.

"Buffy and Faith have been training us with stakes, hand to hand combat and we have done some long sword training," Vi proudly stated to an unimpressed Ilyria.

"As for weapons, you're looking at them," Rona announced from next to Vi as she and the rest of the slayers held out the weapons in their hands.

"Dawn… is that my favorite broadsword?" Angel asked as he looked over the young woman and the weapon she held in her hand.

"Um… uh… no?" Dawn more questioned than stated only to get a glare from the vampire.

"Dawn… is that my favorite DRAGON SLAYING BROADSWORD?" Angel asked again, this time with a bit more force in his voice.

"Well, it's just that you're so cool and you slayed the dragon with it," Dawn started to explain as she took a step back subconsciously. "You wouldn't leave a helpless girl without a weapon… would you?" Dawn asked, putting a pout on her face that could only be matched by the legendary pouting goddess, Buffy Summers herself. Angel was barely able to stand staring at Dawn for a few seconds before caving to the pout that big sister had obviously taught the younger Summers to perfect.

"Alright! Just stop looking at me like that! You and your sister sure know how to get what you want," Angel exclaimed. Dawn smiled at Angel and he smiled warmly back at her. Spike in the meantime, reached forward, stealing a cup of what he found out to be wine from a nearby wooden table.

"Young alpha male," Ilyria addressed Andrew. "What of your black arts? Have you improved in your craft?"

"Not really," Andrew answered quickly. "Willow won't teach me the blacker of the black arts. She just teaches me meditation and how to make and use ingredients for light healing spells. I usually just shoot stuff with a crossbow," Andrew finished quietly.

Ilyria cocked her head in what looked like to be a state of thought. "I may be able to offer you more aid than just an army… however time is not on our side so you must all learn quickly," she said to the group.

The slayers and the two team leaders looked around, confused at the words from Ilyria and the blue queen took notice and called out to her clan.

"Generals! Step forward!"

No sooner than Ilyria spoke did a bunch of demons start to walk to the middle of the camp fire circle for all to see. A green demon that looked like the bad ass son of Kermit the Frog, all decked out in full Samurai armor and a metal skull cap helmet stepped forward. Next, a red robed demon with a face that looked like a pissed off and possessed gorilla, made its way beside the junior Kermit. The next general to form the line was a demon in black leather armor and black cloth wrappings, worn below many holstered knives across the demon's waist and chest. The only flesh that this demon showed was just above its cloth masked nose, dark blue skin and eyes.

The last demon to step forward was a large red demon with goat horns. This demon wore brown leather armor pants and a brown poncho that revealed a missing left arm when it blew in the wind. Once bodies stopped stepping before the cam fire's occupants, completely different demons were standing side by side. A Mohra demon, Kleynach demon, Sathari demon and a one armed Fyarl demon.

"I noticed the weapons you now possess and I now know that you have minimal training in wielding them. I also know that pieces of wood is not going to stop any army. Starting tomorrow morning my generals will teach you all they can in a day and nights time. Also, tomorrow… defensive battle plans will be discussed. Thus with your permission while you are training, my clan will clear the wreckage out of your home and perhaps put some of it to good use," Ilyria explained to the group of slayers, young watcher and two vampires that watched her closely.

Kennedy and Satsu looked at each other briefly for reassurance, then both gave a nod to the demon queen. Several silence filled seconds ticked by before Kennedy spoke out.

"So… who do you have to kill to get some marshmallows and booze out here?" she said with a chuckle in her voice, breaking the tension that surrounded them all.

With that being said, a monstrous ovation was announced by both humans and demons alike and Andrew ran to the house to find the requested marshmallows. The demons gave wine to the humans and their colleagues. Ilyria watched from her spot and let loose a smile only to be seen by the oldest vampire amongst them. Angel gave Ilyria a confirming nod as he knew why the once iron fisted demon queen was allowing the small party to occur. The two elder demons knew that the slayers and their army needed to co-exist peacefully as well as relieve their minds of the upcoming battle and preparations, even if only for one night.

The next morning, slayer central was full of commotion. Demons were hauling out debris from the damaged castle, sparring, making medical supplies and weapons and preparing food. Some had even begun training the slayers. It looked like a small medieval kingdom and market place, with demons all around.

* * *

><p>The only thing that looked out of place was the small group of demons and humans training together. The slayers from Satsu's group were being taught how to properly guard and strike with their nimble long swords. They were being taught to use the flex of the blade to slash instead of stab.<p>

The Mohra demon was teaching Satsu the fundamentals in the way of the Samurai. Satsu was learning Bushito and Akido, how to lean into an attack and your front foot while wielding either the Kitana or Ninjato. How to use your core and lower body in fluid attacking motions… how to block using the outside of the blade rather than the inside. And lastly, how the sharpest and most deadliest part of either sword starts just before the very tip.

Andrew was being taught black arts by the Kleynach demon in a more secluded area of the property. The kind of black arts that Willow refused to teach, much less dabble in again for fear of losing her own control. The young watcher was learning how to bend the forces of darkness to his will and use it for good, as well as ancient tongues and how to greatly extend his magical reserves. All the while, he was trying not to piss off his teacher and make references to the Kleynach demon and the Planet of the Apes movies, which he couldn't help but picture when he listened to his teacher speaking to him.

Vi and Dana were being taught how to properly duel wield short bladed weapons by the Sathari assassin demon. The two rage driven slayers were being taught to channel their anger and rely more on reflexes and speed. Vi and Dana were also being instructed on how to use their weapons to evade and parry incoming attacks instead of taking the full force of a blow and blocking the attack. This was allowing them to qickly counter attack the enemy.

Both Rona and Kennedy were being taught the finer points of axe wielding by the one armed Fyarl demon, with Rona being expertly instructed on how to actually use her superior strength and one good arm as an advantage. Kennedy and Rona were being taught how to use the heavy axe head's momentum to continue their strikes as well as using horizontal or angled attacks to ensure the axe blade did not get stuck in the enemy and to have one leg always ready during a swing to kick away an enemies carcass if the axe blade did become lodged in flesh or armor.

Dawn was being instructed by both Angel and Spike in the castles emptied armory. Dawn's favourite vampires were teaching her how to properly use her body when wielding a broadsword. To strike leading with the back leg and use both her core and lower body to strike, putting minimal stress on the upper body. Angel also showed Dawn one of his old tricks… how a person can use two hands to block, disarm and then strike an opponent by grabbing the middle of the wide broadsword blade bare handed. Angel showed her how to use the flat palm of the hand to support the blade, block the incoming attack and then to slide the sword so the hilt bashes the enemy weapon and knocks it to the ground.

Indeed, slayer central was extremely busy both day and night with humans and demons training their minds and bodies for judgement day. For as well as training, both species were forming battle strategies.

"So… out of an army of demons, two great… great…great grandpa vamps, a demon queen older than mankind and a giant video game nerd, what do we have?" Kennedy asked as she looked around the library table.

Ilyria was the first to respond to the question. "Your slayers and vampires as well as myself should fight on the rooftop. For your enemy will want to get you at all costs, but will have to get through my army on the ground first before reaching you that way. I will have archers on the roof as well and suggest you have your windows and doors heavily boarded shut," Ilyria explained.

"Okay, so we have our basics, can anyone else think of any dirty tricks?" the lead slayer asked.

Andrew couldn't wait any longer to share his knowledge of movies and video games as he jumped to his feet with almost slayer speed. His move startled everyone in the room except Ilyria.

"Alright… here's what we are going to do… this is our house and we are going to defend it!" Andrew exclaimed, causing everyone in the room except Ilyria once again, to roll their eyes and giggle at Andrew's Home Alone reference. He didn't let them laugh for very long though before he continued. "Listen to me for once! Mr. Angel, I'm going to need to borrow some money," Andrew announced, looking over at the old vampire. "I am going to buy a lot of cooking oil and gasoline, a portable generator and industrial strength lights. And Ilyria, I'm going to need to borrow some of your clan and have them bring some of the wooden debris they've cleared out."

Everyone in the room had blank looks on their faces and even Ilyria cocked her head in a way that seemed to be common now, looking at the young watcher with interest.

Andrew sighed before he spoke again. "I'm going to use our demon army for two reasons. First to help me board the windows and doors and also to secure large wooden spikes to the floors and ceiling just in front of them. That should slow our enemies down if they make it through the boards. Secondly, I'm going to use the help to spread the oil and gas in a giant thick line on our front and back lawn about a hundred yards in front of Ilyria's army. As soon as chunk of Joan's army passes, we will shoot flaming arrows at the oil soaked lawn which will slow our enemies down as they try to advance."

There was an eerie silence in the library for half a minute, as everyone tried to think about what Andrew had explained and all of them had different expressions on their face. Most of them looked shocked but Dawn was smiling at him, holding his hand just under the table top so nobody could see.

"What… hold on a second… what?" Kennedy asked, the first to break the silence.

Andrew took the opportunity while everyone was still staring at him to say something he always wanted to say to them.

"For everyone who calls me a geek or a nerd… or gay, or basically make fun of me in any way… in the words of the movie 'The New Guy'," Andrew paused for dramatic effect. He walked right in front of Kennedy's face and asked, "Whose the bitch now?"

Suddenly the whole library was roaring with cheers and hollers as Satsu whistled loudly and Andrew walked back to his seat, slapping hands with the slayers he passed. Kennedy tried her best to be angry, but she couldn't be. She was proud of her watcher and instead of saying anything, she continued with the battle strategy brainstorm.

"Alright, now that I'm Andrew's bitch… anyone else have any ideas?" she asked looking around the table. No one answered her directly and she continued to speak. "So we have a basic battle plan and some tricks, but what about weapons and armor? Do we have enough for the entire army?"

The assassin Sathari demon general spoke out to the room in a deep human male voice. "We have made a great many bows and arrows from the castle wreckage and the woodland on the property. All the demons have their own personal weapons and armor from our home land that they will use. We have also managed to make some leather armor for all of you, it may not be as good as metal but leather was all we had," the demon explained to the group.

"No… leather is good, metal would just slow us down and restrict movement. Thank you," Satsu said, bowing toward the demon side of the table.

A full minute of silence and thinking passed until Ilyria spoke to the room. "If there are no more ideas for now, I suggest we all get some rest. According to what you have told me, this Joan of Arc should be advancing to the castle in a day or two's time."

Both humans and demons alike started to stand and the Kleynach demon beside Andrew poked him in the side a few times until Andrew finally shouted out loud.

"Damn it all! It's not ready! I'm not ready! I haven't gotten the hatred concentration down yet! I'm almost there, just give me another morning or night and I should have it!" he stated loudly.

"What are you yelling about?" Kennedy asked as everyone found their way back to the seats and sat back down. "Why are you yelling at that dude?" Kennedy asked, pointing her finger at the demon wearing the robe that had poked Andrew in the side.

Andrew stood there a few seconds, trying to think of an excuse for his outburst before he exploded in anger and began to ramble as his teacher started to prod at him once more.

"Me and my Yoda have been working on summoning magic. Willow refused to teach me and now I know why… it's so easy to lose yourself to the dark side… to fear, to guilt, shame and anger. To allow Hell's magic to control you. I lost control almost every five minutes from dawn until lunch that first morning the teaching began on the more advanced magic. If it wasn't for Dawn and the rest of you, there is no way I would have been able to learn anything."

"What do you mean hon?" Dawn asked, rubbing his arm, forgetting the company they were in. Her actions caused both Angel and Spike to raise their eyebrows.

"Ummm… can we talk more in private?" Andrew asked Dawn as he started to blush.

Kennedy saw Andrew's face and made her way over to him, placing an arm around his shoulders.

"Andy… you know we'll get it out of Dawnie sooner or later so you might as well tell us now. We can do this the easy way or the hard way… the easy way with you telling us now something that can possibly help us in this fight. The hard way is you keep it to yourself and…" Kennedy trailed off as she raked her nails roughly over Andrew's chest and stopped at his nipples.

"Alright! Alright! Just don't touch my nipples again!" Andrew yelled out.

"Good boy," Kennedy said to the young man as she slapped him on his back and walked back to her seat, ready to hear what he was going to say.

Andrew looked over at Kennedy and saw that she was sitting back down and smiling at him. He took a deep breath and began to inform everyone what he had been talking about.

"Controlling dark magic is extremely difficult. To counteract the darkness that fills your heart and mind, you have to fill both heart and mind with joy. Think of the movie Hook, with Robin Williams playing Peter Pan. Tinkerbell tells him to think of happy thoughts in order to fly. It's much more difficult than that, but the same idea applies here. You have to feel the love and joy and happy emotions as well as think them in order to stop Hell's magic from possessing you. Which I'd imagine would be extremely difficult to do during battle, which I realized first hand while there was some sparring and training going on around me."

The entire library went silent, everyone putting two and two together with Andrew's words. Dawn grabbed Andrew's hand, pulled him down to her lap and kissed him sweetly, in front of everyone in the room. Angel and Spike both dropped their mouths, like they were cartoon characters.

After a few more kisses between the two, Kennedy decided as happy as she was for the couple, she could only take so much of watching them kiss.

"Watch out Dawnie… Mr. Hugh Hefner here said thanks to all of us, and we want our smoochies too," Kennedy said with a laugh.

Dawn just glared at a smug Kennedy and the other girls giggled around her. Andrew, flush face and all, got up off of Dawn's lap and started to speak to the group again.

"Anyway… the reason why I am telling you this is because I have been working on summoning and controlling creatures without ingredients. I didn't want to bring it up until I knew I was ready and could do it, but I think I can have it down in another day or so," Andrew explained.

"Oh, c'mon Andy… Dawn will show you hers if you show us yours," Kennedy said with a wink.

"Ken!" Dawn blushed.

"Alpha male! Will you please just show us what you can do so we can all get some rest! We are not all fledglings here!" Ilyria exclaimed.

Andrew, feeling a little bit embarrassed, made his way to an open space in the library and started to summon something, irritated at all the eyes staring at him as he did it.

"Stop staring at me! I can't perform with you all staring at me like that!" Andrew yelled, exasperated.

"Come on Andy… you are going to have to learn to fuck Dawn while I'm pretending to sleep… might as well start learning how to perform in public now," Kennedy teased.

"Damnit Ken!" Dawn screamed.

"Children!" Ilyria shouted, clearly annoyed at the time being wasted. She could tell her generals were getting impatient as well.

"Sorry buddy, go ahead," Ken said calmly.

Andrew closed his eyes and started to breathe deeply. In no time at all, the young man's aura was visibly black as night. For the first time ever, the slayers were looking on at the watcher while feeling the power he wielded with their slayer senses. Andrew raised his hand and spoke in a language that only two other demons in the room understood.

Andrew's spell had finally ended when he shouted and all the slayers jumped out of their seats when they saw a plume of black and red fire appear out of nowhere, right ontop of the table in front of them.

When the flames cleared, all of the slayers felt nothing but a wave of… cuteness. Wandering around before them in the table, wagging their tales, barked a pack of six black and red fierce hell hound… puppies.

"Awwweee! They are so cute! Andrew… can we keep them?" Dawn squealed as she picked up an eager puppy who was frantically licking her chin.

"Seee! I told you Yoda! I needed more time!" Andrew shouted toward his demon teacher, embarrassed that he hadn't performed the spell properly.

One of the puppies grew bold enough to jump onto Ilyria's lap and then look up at her with big red eyes. Ilyria looked down at the young hell hound and then back up at the women fussing over the pack on young hell hounds.

"Don't stay up too late," Ilyria said.

With that, Ilyria, her new little friend and her generals got up to return to their tents. Before the demons fully left the room, their queen pointed toward the two stone statue vampires. Two demon generals picked up both Spike and Angel, who were still unable to move from the shock of seeing their once sweet and innocent Dawn kiss Andrew, and walked out the library door behind their queen.


	16. Chapter 16

AUTHORS NOTES: WARNING! This chapter contains scenes of light sexual content. Viewer Digression is advised.

Chapter Sixteen

It felt like they had been training for weeks… but truth be told, it was only the evening of their second day. They had been training hard… learning from their specific teachers to work with the weapon of their choosing and preparing for the upcoming war. There was no way they had learned everything… but they had learned enough in the past days and nights. They were stronger because of their training, and all of the slayers knew that if not for Ilyria and her clan of demons, they would probably be nothing more than sitting ducks waiting for Joan of Arc to return and kill them all.

These thoughts were flowing through Dawn's mind as the water from the only remaining working shower flowed over her head and down her body. She had won the game of rock-paper-scissors to get the first shower, which meant she was going to get the hot water that the other girls so desperately wanted after two days of hard core training. But the thoughts of the past couple of days were not all that were occupying the young slayer's mind. She found herself missing her sister and the rest of her family that was away. She had spent her whole life standing by Buffy's side… watching her fight evil and battle all the big bads that came into town year after year. And Dawn had been there, helping out by big sister and the Scoobies sides all those years. This was the first fight that was hers and hers alone. The first time she would be the one to stop the big bad, without Buffy looking over her shoulder. The thought both encouraged and frightened the former key. She couldn't deny that a part of her wished Buffy would be there to have her back but she also was looking forward to winning the battle and showing Buffy just how much she had learned.

A knock at the door startled Dawn out of her thoughts and she opened her eyes and pushed the water off of her face.

"Just another minute!" she shouted to the knock at the door, still not quite ready to give up the warmth of the water. Dawn couldn't make out the voice of the mumbling behind the door but whoever it was did not continue to knock. But the damage had been done, and Dawn quickly finished up in the shower, washing her body and rinsing out her hair.

By the time she towel dried her hair and had put her comfortable clothes on, she could already hear several girls bickering at the shower door over who was going to shower next. She chuckled to herself and unlocked the bedroom door, pulling on the knob and opening it quickly.

She jumped when the door opened and she found herself running smack into the chest of Angel, with Spike standing just a foot behind him.

"Jeez… you scared me! What's up?" Dawn asked as she backed into her room and held onto the frame of the door.

"Can we talk for a minute?" Angel asked, his voice warm and caring, but his look stern and worried.

"Uh… sure, I guess so, come in," she said, pulling the door open a little further and watching as both Angel and Spike made their way into her room, looking around. They glanced from side to side, obviously noticing the difference in appearance from the side Dawn claimed as her own and the side Kennedy used. "Sorry about the mess, we haven't had a lot of time to clean up since the invasion."

"No worries nibblet… just here for a quick chat is all," Spike said, as he inched his way further into the room and picked up a pile of clothes that had been tossed onto a chair and threw them in a similar pile on the floor. Spike flopped down on the chair and looked over at Angel. "Go ahead mate, this was your bloody idea after all," Spike said, sounding mildly annoyed at being there in the first place.

"Is everything alright? Did you hear from Buffy yet?" Dawn asked, suddenly concerned about the nature of the conversation that was about to take place.

"No, we haven't heard from Buffy yet… apparently the storm isn't letting up where they are and the phone lines are still out. I tried her cell again but it just went to her voice-mail like it did the last time," Angel explained as he paced around the room, glancing up every couple of seconds.

"Should we be worried?" Dawn asked.

"The slayer is fine, always is," Spike huffed from his seat. Angel jerked his head over to Spike and glared at the blonde vampire. "What? Bird knows how to take care of herself," Spike responded to Angel's look.

"Anyway… Spike and I… well, we wanted to talk to you about… well about… I'm not very good at this sort of thing… okay, let me start over," Angel began, suddenly seeming very uncomfortable.

"We want to know what's going on with you and the boy," Spike spit out, irritated that Angel couldn't just say what it was they had come up there for in the first place. Spike had tried to convince Angel that it wasn't any of their business what Dawn did with Andrew… it wasn't like they were her father or her brother, or any relation at all. But Angel had done a good job of pointing out that with Buffy away, they were the closest thing Dawn had to family and there was no denying that they both cared about the young woman. Spike had finally relented and agreed that asking her would be the "big brother" thing to do.

"Me and Andrew?" Dawn asked, surprised that the conversation was turning toward her relationship instead of the upcoming battle. "And here I thought you were going to tell me that there was more bad news with Joan of Arc or something," Dawn muttered the last part under her breath.

"We just were curious, you know because… well…" Angel began to stumble over his words again.

"Because it's Andrew and no offense love, kind of always thought he wasn't into your kind," Spike interrupted Angel, finishing his thought in the most impolite way possible.

"Why does everyone think he's gay?" Dawn huffed as she sat down on her bed, running her fingers through her still damp hair. She asked the question mostly to herself but Spike wasn't about to keep his mouth shut.

"Come on nibblet… even you had to think it at some point back in Sunnydale," Spike responded, leaning forward in his chair and seeing as Angel glared at him once more.

"It's none of our business," Angel began, only to be cut off by Dawn.

"You're right, it isn't any of your business."

"But we care about you, and Buffy… does she know about this?" Angel asked, finding his voice finally without stuttering.

"It's still new," Dawn replied, even though she told herself she wasn't going to answer any more of their questions. It wasn't any of their business like she said and she didn't feel like she needed to be interrogated by them.

"Told you, the slayer would have put a stop to this if she knew about it… you owe me a bottle of bourbon," Spike said, standing from the chair and smiling ear to ear. Angel practically growled at the blonde vampire this time.

"Spike… shut up," Angel said.

"Buffy can't control me! I'm not a kid anymore! I am a slayer!" Dawn shouted, her voice louder than she had intended it to be but the anger getting the better of her and catching both the vampires off guard. Before either could respond to her outburst, Kennedy chose that moment to push the barely open bedroom door open and come strolling in, towel wrapped around her still wet body.

"Whoa… what did I miss?" she asked, once she saw the two vampires in the room and Dawn's expression on her face.

"Nothing… they were just leaving," Dawn said, teeth clenched as she looked back and forth at the two.

"Right, we were just giving her an update on Buffy's situation," Angel said, realizing Dawn was urging them to leave. "We'll see you in the morning."

"Kay… if you wanna come hang later, we are going to probably get a game of basketball going in the gym if we can find a ball," Ken said, smiling as she used another towel to dry her hair. Angel and Spike didn't reply, Angel just offered a smile to Kennedy and followed Spike out the door.

"What was that about?" Ken asked as soon as the door was closed behind them, turning to face her best friend who was back to sitting on her bed.

"They came to interrogate me about Andrew," Dawn said.

"Figured they would."

"It's none of their business! I'm not a kid anymore!" Dawn exclaimed, raising her voice once more out of pure frustration.

"Calm down, I know you aren't a kid. But with Buffy and Scoobies gone, they probably feel like they have to watch out for you or something. Probably worried that if they don't that Buffy will put a stake through 'em or something," Ken explained as she rummaged through her drawers looking for something to put on. She sighed heavily when she couldn't find a pair of gym shorts like she had been looking for. "Do you have an extra pair of shorts I could wear?" she asked, looking over at Dawn, who had already seen what Kennedy was searching for and was holding a pair of black shorts in her hand ready to hand them to her friend.

"Please just wear underwear with them," Dawn said with a chuckle as she handed them over, the irritation that she had felt just a few seconds earlier dissipating quickly. Kennedy laughed at Dawn's statement and took the shorts from her, slipping them on under the towel around her body. She then turned back to the dresser and pulled on a tank top in one swift motion, letting the towel fall to the floor.

"No underwear for me tonight… guess you aren't going to want these back then huh?" Ken asked with a laugh as she made her way to Dawn and flung her arm around her shoulder. Dawn rolled her eyes and laughed at Kennedy, wrapping her own arm around Ken and heading out the door.

* * *

><p>"So here's the deal… we are going to shoot for captains and then pick teams… it will be three on three," Satsu explained to Dawn, Kennedy, Andrew, Vi and Rona who had gathered together in the gym after tracking down a basketball. They were ready to have a little bit of fun… even if it was just for one night.<p>

"Did I mention I'm not very good at basketball?" Andrew asked from next to Dawn. Everyone looked over at him and started to laugh.

"Is that supposed to surprise us Andy?" Ken asked, clearing entertained.

"Hey! I can play other sports, basketball just isn't one of them," Andrew said, defensive as usual.

"Relax honey, I think she was just joking," Dawn said, leaning over and kissing him lightly on the cheek getting a blush on Andrew almost immediately.

No one said anything, they all just got into a line at the free throw line, Vi first, Rona behind her, with Satsu and Ken following and Dawn and Andrew behind them. Vi missed her shot as it bounced off the rim and right back to her. Rona's almost went in but rolled out at the very last second. Satsu's shot went straight through the hoop, the net making a "swishing" sound as the ball passed through it.

"Nothing but net!" Satsu exclaimed, retrieving the ball and passing it to Kennedy who was next in line.

"You think you're such hot shit," Ken said, rolling her eyes at the slayer in front of her. She bounced the ball several times before taking aim and shooting… the ball going straight through the hoop and making the same "swishing" sound that it had when Satsu had made her shot just moments before.

"Okay," Satsu said, rebounding the ball and holding it at her side. "Kennedy and I are the captains and I pick first… I pick… Dawn," Satsu said smirking at Kennedy knowing that Dawn would have been the girls first pick.

"Fine… I take Rona," Ken replied quickly. Rona made her way to Ken's side and slapped her hand.

"Pick me! Pick me!" Andrew yelled and jumped up and down raising his hand above his head.

"Uh… we'll take Vi," Satsu said, barely even looking at Andrew. "That leaves you with the watcher."

"Always picked last," Andrew muttered under his breath. Rona smiled at the blonde man and wrapped her arm around him as he made his way to Kennedy and Rona's sides.

"Don't worry, you're with us so at least you are on the good team," Rona said, a playful smile on her face as she looked at Vi.

* * *

><p>"Game to twenty by ones… make it take it," Satsu announced, dribbling the ball to the to the half court line.<p>

"Why do you get the ball first?" Andrew questioned.

"Don't worry about it Andy… they need all the help they can get," Kennedy remarked, catching the ball as Satsu checked it to her and she tossed it back. "Let's see what ya got slayer."

"This is game point," Kennedy said with a huge grin on her face as she stood at the half court line. Sweat was slowly dripping down her forehead and she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Andrew was barely standing, breathing heavily on her left with Dawn rubbing his back soothingly and Rona and Vi on her right, not at all focused on the game that was going on and only focused on one another. "Looks like it's just you and me sweet cheeks," Ken said playfully at Satsu as she checked the ball.

"Bet you'd like that wouldn't you?" Satsu replied as she roughly passed the ball back to Kennedy and smirked at her. Kennedy began dribbling the ball toward the basket, turning her back once she got to the right side of the top of key and backing down toward the hoop. Satsu continued to stay close to her, her front pressed closely to Kennedy's backside as she tried to get closer to get a good shot off.

"You running out of steam Ken… or you getting turned on bumping into me like this?" Satsu asked in a whisper. Ken bit her tongue and held in the moan she wanted to let loose. She couldn't deny that she was all sorts of worked up by the activity from the past few days and she hadn't had the release she really needed. But she wasn't going to let Satsu win… no matter how horny she was.

"You wish," Ken said, as she quickly spun to her right, catching Satsu off guard. Ken jumped up, taking a shot at the basket with perfect form and released the ball. The ball hit the center of the backboard and bounced into the hoop without touching the rim. "That's game."

Satsu had turned to rebound the ball and her back was now to Kennedy. She didn't turn around so she could face her, partly because she was pissed she had lost and partly because she too was pretty worked up and feeling the need for some sort of release.

"Is it over? Because I don't think I can handle any more," Andrew said from the same spot he had been in for the past five minutes with Dawn at his side.

"Come on baby… you won," Dawn said with a smile on her face. "Let's go upstairs so I can change out of these clothes and then we can watch a movie… I'll even let you pick which one," Dawn said to the young watcher. He stood up more fully then and let out a huge smile.

"Really? Even if it's Star Wars?" Andrew asked.

"Even if it's Star Wars," Dawn said, pulling his hand into hers and practically dragging him out of the gym. Vi and Rona were standing on the other side of the hoop, arms wrapped around each other with their faces mere inches from one another.

"You two gonna head up too?" Satsu asked them, knowing very well what they would be up to the second they got upstairs.

"Oh, yeah… we should get some rest," Rona said, smiling at Vi, anxious to get upstairs with her lover.

"Goodnight you guys, see you in the morning," Vi announced, letting Rona lead her out of the gym the same way Andrew and Dawn had left just moments earlier and leaving Satsu and Kennedy in the gym alone.

It was silent for a good couple of minutes while Kennedy drank the last of the water from her bottle and Satsu just shot around with the ball. Kennedy finally broke the silence.

"Where is the rest of your team?"

"I think they were playing cards in the lounge… or what's left of it," Satsu replied, not even looking over at Kennedy.

"Well… good game. I'm gonna get something to eat," Kennedy said as she stretched her arms above her head, her tank top riding up and showing her stomach off a little. Satsu couldn't help but glance over at her when it happened and Kennedy caught her looking. "Wanna come?"

"Come?" Satsu asked, her stare broken by Kennedy's question and she flushed when she realized that Kennedy knew she had been staring.

"To the kitchen… to find something… to eat," Kennedy replied slowly.

"Oh, yeah… come… to the kitchen… sure," Satsu said, flustered a little but regaining her composure as she made her way over to Kennedy.

"I bet you will," Kennedy said under her breath with a smirk on her face as the two walked out the gym door.

* * *

><p>"Mmmm… alone at last," Rona said as she closed the door behind Vi and they made their way into the dark bedroom. The lights had been broken in the castle siege and they hadn't been replaced yet so the only light that was coming in was coming from the moon through the window. Rona locked the door and turned into the room, only to be met with Vi's lips on hers.<p>

Rona moaned into the kiss, her tongue sneaking out and into Vi's mouth, who welcomed her openly. Their arms wrapped around each other, Rona lifting slightly and Vi responding by letting Rona pick her up and carry her to their awaiting bed. Rona slowly lay Vi down and lifted her tank top up and over her head before hovering over her and showering her neck with light kisses. Vi closed her eyes and moaned herself, feeling her arousal down below as she reached for Rona's shirt, attempting to pull it off. Rona sat up, allowing Vi to lift the thin material up and over her head and then Vi lay back, watching her lover closely. Rona smiled at Vi, wondering how she could have fallen for someone so quickly. She didn't know if it was a slayer thing or what, but she knew that what she had with Vi was something she didn't ever want to live without.

Rona slowly tugged at Vi's pajama pants, pulling them down and leaving Vi only with her bra and panties on. Vi sat up and unhooked her bra, tossing it to the floor below, hearing Rona moan at the sight of her breasts ready and willing to be touched and suckled.

Rona looped her fingers around the tops of Vi's panties, slowly, almost painfully so, pulling them down Vi's soft legs. As soon as they were off, she didn't hesitate before spreading Vi's legs open and letting the scent of her arousal fill the room.

"I've been waiting for this all day," Rona whispered, before leaning forward and letting her tongue meet Vi's waiting wet pussy. Vi threw her head back on the pillow and clenched her eyes shut.

"Oh… my…god," was all she could say as Rona's tongue went to work.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile Dawn and Andrew had managed to make it up the stairs, Andrew whimpering slightly about a pain in his side from all the running he had supposedly done during the basketball game. They made it to Dawn's room and she started rummaging through her closet, looking for pajamas to wear for the evening. Her mind was racing once again. While she and Andrew had been heating up, they still had not had sex… in fact, Dawn had never had sex and it was something that she couldn't stop thinking about, especially tonight. She made up her mind right then and there, while standing in her closet that tonight was the night for them.<p>

Andrew for his part, was feeling just as anxious as Dawn. He knew he was in love with the young woman, something he had known from their very first kiss. But his real anxiety was with the fact that they hadn't actually discussed where their relationship was going, even though it seemed they were both on the same page. And as much as Andrew wanted things to go further, he was going to be a gentleman and didn't want to do anything that would look like pressuring the young woman into having more with her. Mostly because he cared about her too much, but there was a little bit of worry because after all, Buffy was her sister, and Faith was Buffy's girlfriend… and if at any point one of them thought he was taking advantage of her… they would surely put an end to him.

"What are you thinking about?" Dawn asked from inside her closet where Andrew couldn't see her. Since he didn't have slayer powers, his eyes hadn't adjusted as well to the dark as Dawn's had and he was still standing by the bed with the back of his knees resting on it.

"Oh… just thinking about Joan of Arc," Andrew lied, not wanting to tell Dawn that he was really thinking about her and how much he just wanted to stay in the room with her the rest of the night. Dawn didn't reply, instead Andrew saw her figure walk out of the closet and come closer to him.

It took him a full twenty seconds to realize that she was naked when she approached him, his eyes still not seeing well in the darkness and when he did notice she wasn't dressed, he fell backward on the bed, his knees practically buckling under him. He could feel his pants getting tighter as he couldn't help but look up and down her body.

"I'm… I'm… sorry… should I turn around?" Andrew asked, stuttering his reply. His eyes began to focus more in the darkness and he saw Dawn smile slightly at him as she started to move closer to him on the bed. He felt his heart jump into his chest as Dawn straddled his body.

"Andrew?"

"Ye…Yes?"

"Shut up and kiss me," Dawn demanded. By some miracle of a higher power, Andrew's brain managed to listen to Dawn's words and his hands found their way to her back, pulling her close for a searing kiss. Their tongues swirled around in each others mouths and Andrew let out a high pitched noise when he felt Dawn's hands move down toward his pants and begin to undo the button and zipper.

"Oh… my… god," he whispered into the darkness.

* * *

><p>Satsu was sitting on the kitchen counter, closely watching the microwave that had managed to be salvaged after the attack as it ticked down the seconds until her hot pocket would be ready to eat. She knew she had to focus on the timer because if she didn't, there was no way she was going to be able to eat and get out of there without losing her control. She almost considered not eating at all, and just running up to her room and scratching her itch herself. But something made her stay in that kitchen, despite how hard it was for her.<p>

Kennedy for her part had a smirk on her face from the moment they left the gym. She knew what she wanted and to be honest, she didn't care who she got it from. She needed release, and she had always wanted to know what it would be like to get that release from a slayer. She knew that Satsu wanted her… by the way she wouldn't look at her and the way her face flushed when she realized Kennedy had caught her staring. Now Kennedy just had to wait until the right moment to make her move.

Satsu was completely focused on the microwave, so much so that she didn't even notice Kennedy moving toward her. She watched as the seconds ticked away… five… four… three… two… one… beep, beep, beep.

Satsu went to push herself off of the counter, but as soon as she landed on her feet she found Ken standing directly in front of her, her face inches away from Satsu's.

"Sorr… sorry," Satsu said, trying to get around the other team leader. But Kennedy wouldn't let Satsu get around her and continued to step in front of the Asian girl.

"You ready?" Kennedy asked in a very seductive tone, one that made Satsu's pussy clench.

"Ready? Ready for what?" she asked. Ken smiled at her then, a sweet smile but a mischievous one as well.

"To come," Kennedy asked. But she didn't give Satsu a chance to answer. Instead, she took a hold of the smaller girl and crushed her lips onto Satsu's. Satsu was stunned for a fraction of a second, before she realized that this was really going to happen and she kissed Kennedy back.

The kiss ended and Satsu noticed the darkness in Kennedy's eyes. They both knew that they needed this.

"This is just a one time deal," Kennedy said as she raised Satsu's arms and removed her shirt with built in bra from her body, exposing her small but perfect breasts. Satsu flinched as the cold air hit her nipples and they hardened instantly, causing Kennedy to chuckle.

"Fine with me," the smaller girl said in a whisper. Kennedy didn't waste another minute before she lifted her own tank top up and over her body and fell down to her knees, pulling at Satsu's gym shorts and underwear on the way down, leaving her completely naked in the middle of the kitchen. Kennedy licked her lips before she snuck her tongue out to taste the other slayer and heard as Satsu moaned at the contact.

"Oh… my… god," Satsu breathed out slowly as Kennedy got to work at making her cum.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

"Their coming! Their coming! Get Ready! All to stations! The enemy marches at our gates!"

All that could be seen and heard from inside the castle was a screaming Sathari demon running toward the camp, trying to warn his brethren. Some of the castle occupants heard the demons screams, Dawn and Andrew included.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" They're here! They're here!" Andrew shouted very excitedly as he jumped up and down holding onto Dawn's hands.

"Alright, alright! Jeez you are such a geek. Remind me why I love you again?" Dawn asked playfully. Andrew didn't respond, instead he just smiled and his eyes turned from their normal color to red.

"SLAYERS!... ASSSEMMMBLLEEE!" he yelled.

The whole castle shook with a booming base as Andrew's words could be heard ricocheting off the walls through the entire residence. Andrew then turned back to his girlfriend and smiled once more.

"You love me because I bring down the house! I'm the only guy around here that's close to your age so I win by default. And winning by default is still winning if you ask me," he said very matter-of-factly.

Dawn giggled a little and smacked the young watcher on his arm, watching as the rest of her comrades made their way into the lounge where Andrew and Dawn were.

"Everyone know what to do?" Kennedy asked as she made her way to the center of the group. She received a room full of nods in response. "Okay then… battle stations everyone. Let's suit up and get into position!"

* * *

><p>And so the heroes of mankind stood upon their castle roof top, their home field. By moonlight they stood, side by side. The saviours of mankind, some human and some not, stared off into the distance and looked onward to the masses of demonic bodies marching their way toward the castle. At the head of the demonic army stood Joan of Arc herself.<p>

"Hollllyyy fuuuuccckkk!" Kennedy dragged on as they witnessed a much bigger army than had previously attacked them before. The massive army continued to march toward them.

"That's a lot of army," Angel spoke out from his spot on the roof top.

"Don't tell me you are scared of a few hundred vamps," Spike mused from next to Angel, causing Angel to glare over at the blonde vampire.

"Your grand-sire is not wrong," Ilyria spoke. "There are a great deal more enemies than anticipated. I will need to lead my army on the battlefield. All of you, remember your roles and may the gods watch over you," she finished, looking back at the others as she crouched on the castles stone.

And like a scene from a movie, Ilyria jumped off the ledge, somehow managing to land on her foot and knee unharmed. She then stood up and strode up to the front of her waiting army.

"That was so cool," Andrew awed, receiving a bunch of eye rolls in response.

"Focus people," Angel announced, turning his attention back to the army that was still headed their way. "Start getting everything ready!"

All that remained on the balcony moved to take their positions. Slayers and vampires stood in front of the doorway, demon archers were positioned near the castle ledge at the ready and Andrew was hard at work setting up the blinding lights he had prepared along with the trip wire and the…. Stereo system?

"Andy… why in God's name do you have a stereo system and extension cords everywhere up here?" Kennedy asked, looking around at the bundle of wires that Andrew had around him. She rolled her eyes as the sound of Metallica music and the San Francisco Orchestra filled the air.

"What? Got to get everyone pumped up somehow right?" Andrew asked. There was no time to answer however before Ilyria's voice could be heard.

"Archers at the ready!" she yelled from below. Joan of Arcada's army was advancing to the sound of "Whom the Bell Tolls" and everyone was at full attention as they continued to draw near. "Ready!... NOW!"

Suddenly, the night air was filled with moving stars and the front lawn of the castle was set ablaze, effectively causing a schism in Joan's army and turning a large number of vampires to ash in the process. Unfortunately, the fire illuminated the true number of Joan's army.

The good guys were clearly outnumbered by as many to three to one. However outnumbered, the heroes still effectively divided the enemies forces into a number that was able to be dealt with. That is until the inferno died down and ice particles took the fires place, calmly and slowly falling to the scorched earth. In the line where the once inferno wall roared on, stood three robed figures at the head of Joan's army… their hands outstretched and glowing black. Seconds later, the three robed figures shot out black bolts of energy at the castle.

Everyone braced for the collision as the bolts slammed into thin air with red lightening crackling around the points of impact, causing all heads, both demonic and human to look around for answers. They found they answer when they saw Andrew and his demonic teacher with their arms both outstretched and their eyes glowing red. Everyone on the roof was shocked to see the once wimpy Andrew now command magic strong enough to repel an armies worth of mages.

The castle occupants did not have time to congratulate Andrew however. The three robed figures started to perform some sort of martial art movement while their whole bodies began to glow with black energy. It was only a few short seconds before the figures shot out black beams of energy back at the castle. But once again, Andrew and the Kleynach demon were able to stop the continuous magical assault.

However while the three beams were being stopped in midair, one of the black beams arched and struck the Kleynach demon, effectively stopping it from repelling the enemy and leaving only Andrew to defend the castle. The young watcher now started to tense severely, having to fend off three powerful mage attacks at once.

Andrew's aura started to glow black with red smoky flames, just as it did when he summoned a pack of hell hound puppies just the day before. The young man was able to hold out in his defense against the black arts, but not for too long. Soon, Andrew's arms snapped backward, ending his protection spell. The black beams of energy slammed against the castle and caused something around the castle to shatter like a sheet of glass.

"Well, there goes our barrier," Satsu sighed out. "Again," she finished in frustration.

"You loose you sacks of shit! When I get my hands on you, I'll magically bitch slap you back to whatever hells it is you came from!" Kennedy shouted to the enemy mages below.

"Remind me not to play poker with you, pet," Spike responded, watching Kennedy as the rage filled up inside of her.

"Archers!" Ilyria called out from the head of her army with her arm in the air. Both human and demon fighters grabbed their bows and took aim, watching as the mass of vampires continued to march and become within range.

"FIRE!"

A volley of arrows were launched into the air, dropping vampires before they hit the ground. Seconds passed before another volley of arrows dropped another group of vampires… then another… then another.

"Brothers! Sisters! Flesh of my flesh and blood of my blood! Today we fight for honor, glory and our allies! They think they can best us! Fools! They want blood and they shall have it! We shall serve them their own heads!" Ilyria shouted as she addressed her army and then turned to face the enemies once more.

As Ilyria gazed upon the face of her enemies, she held her arm straight above her head for a few seconds.

"DEMONS!" she screamed as the demon queen shifted her weight from the back of her ankles to the tip of her toes and she started to gallop forward. By Ilyria's third stride she screamed out for all to hear, "UNLEASH HELL!"

And like two ocean waves colliding, the two demonic armies met with thunderous force. Blue illuminating light filled the night sky as the Kleynach demon lit up the sky using its dark magics.

* * *

><p>All of the roof-top occupants continued to fire as many arrows as accurately as possible toward the farther ranks of the mass of vampires. All except for one. The best marksmen of the group was busy shedding an aura of darkness which was set ablaze with smoky fire. The young watcher started to chant, as he raised his hand to the battle waging below, oozing dark magics out of his fingertips.<p>

Suddenly, on top of a small clearing near the back of Ilyria's front lines, a plume of fire erupted and from the embers spawned six demon dogs… each looking like a German Sheppard, bigger than an average wolf.

Andrew turned his back to the battle below and continued to chant in a demonic tongue, pointing his outstretched hand to the castle rooftop floor. As the embers cleared from the young watcher's new summoning spell and all too familiar sight was seen, with some upgrades.

Standing on scorched stone, two winged demon apes stood. This time Andrew's familiar creations stood wearing bronze chest and leg armor, along with a sheathed short sword strapped to each of their waists.

"Harry! Marv!' Grab what debris you can, fly near our enemies back ranks and rain death on them!" Andrew ordered his humanoid creations as he pointed toward a large pile of broken castle innards. "Xena! Lead your pack to gorilla ambush their flanks!" Andrew then ordered his hell hounds as he set his gaze on the battle going on below once more. "Legion of Doom…. AAATTTAAACCCKK!"

With that, the newly summoned took their positions. The pack of hell hounds used gorilla warfare on single or small groups of the undead in Joan's army and two winged apes flew overhead of the battle and dropped large pieces of stone and nailed wood onto the enemies. Andrew crashed to the floor from exhaustion once they had begun, breathing heavily.

"You're such a geek… how long have you been planning those names?" Dawn asked as she pulled a granola bar from the bag Willow had left them and handed it to Andrew to get his strength back up.

"Oh come on! You know you wish you had the warrior princess and the sticky bandits at your beckon call!" Andrew announced to the many eyes staring at him.

"True," Rona replied, shrugging her shoulders and then turning back to continue throwing flaming arrows at the enemies below with her good arm.

"You look exhausted Andrew… take some of my mystical key-ness…ness to bring you back to your full geeky self," Dawn said with a smile as she leaned forward toward him. Andrew smiled back at her and puckered his lips together like a child.

"I think Andy really loves this spell don't you think?" Kennedy asked out loud.

Andrew grinned like a big idiot who had just own the lottery and puckered his lips even more so at Kennedy's question.

"You are such a geek!" Dawn screeched.

"But I'm your geek. Now give your king some mystical key-ness."

* * *

><p>As the young watcher slowly regained his magical strength, the battle continued below him. Ilyria herself was a sight to marvel at. Vampires were being flung all over the place, as if Ilyria was a walking hurricane. Unfortunately for Ilyria's army, so was Joan of Arc. Joan was bashing and cutting down Ilyria's army as quickly as they approached her. Both forces of super natural nature were cutting a path through the ranks of one another's armies until they locked eyes just mere feet from one another.<p>

As old and as devastatingly powerful as Ilyria was, she could feel the power and confidence emanating from Joan of Arc.

"This shall be interesting," Ilyria said as she cocked her head and gazed upon her enemy.

As impressively well as the "good guys" were doing, they were losing the war. Ilyria's army was suffering very little casualties but many vampires were starting to get into the castle. As slow as the vampires were advancing toward the roof top, Andrew's traps were slowing them down, but growls and footsteps could be heard from the staircase.

"Andrew, turn on your bloody blinkers!" Spike yelled at the young watcher.

"Slayers! Take up arms!" Satsu commanded.

All roof top occupants except Ilyria's archers dropped their bows and picked up their weapons of choice that they had been training with.

"Form the line!" Angel announced.

Kennedy rolled her eyes and gave Angel an annoyed look as she stepped beside him.

"Sorry, that's your line," Angel sighed as he waved his arms in front of him, signalling to Kennedy to proceed.

"Slayers! At the ready!" Kennedy announced to her slayer sisters.

And so mankind's heroes stood side by side once more. Satsu's team split into two teams on either side of the doorway with swords in hand, ready to decapitate anything that came running through the doorway. Meanwhile, Kennedy's team formed the line once again. In the middle stood Angel, ready to take the brunt of the attack as he always was. To the right of him stood Satsu, Dana, Vi and Rona and to his left stood Kennedy, Spike, Dawn and… a missing Andrew?

"Anyone seen Andrew?" Dawn asked.

Suddenly, a sound of sirens and gun fire filled the air. Everyone looked around expecting to find a demon with a semi-automatic weapon, but instead found Andrew fiddling with the stereo system again, before running back to his position with a plastic bag in his hand. Every fighter had their mouths open ready to scold the young watcher for playing with the radio when the battle was just upon them… a battle that could end with their deaths.

Fortunately for Andrew guitars sounded and Disturbed's Indestructible blared out into the night air, which earned him smiles and nods from everyone around him instead of glares. All the occupants on the roof top turned their attention to their only entrance/exit. The band of heroes witnessed a blinking doorway mounted industrial light and knew that their battle was close at hand.

Kennedy knew what Andrew was trying to do. Just like the fight in L.A., she knew that loud rock music was supposed to be like their version of battle drums. Kennedy looked to her right and received a nod of confidence from the eldest member of their last stand. She then quickly closed her eyes and told herself that she was put in charge of her family… her friends… her home. She was responsible for the lives of the people she cared about. The lead slayer took one quick look to the other lead slayer, Satsu and received another knowing nod from the young girl.

Kennedy drew a deep breath and sang out loud with a fiery passion, "Another mission, the powers have called us away!"

Satsu quickly followed suit to let the others know to join in, "Another time, to carry the colors again!"

"Our motivation, an oath we've sworn to defend!" Dawn sang out.

"To win the honor, of coming back home again!" Rona quickly followed.

Vi took her turn after her girlfriend, "No explanation, will matter after we begin!"

"Unlock the dark destroyer that's buried within!" Angel bellowed, a line that could have not been more true as he shifted into his vampire face.

Spike took his final drag of the cigarette he had decided to light up while Andrew had scampered off, and flicked it to the ground as he could see the shadows of his enemies getting larger. Spike, remaining cool as ever, switched into his vampire form, cocked his head to the side and sang to the night and the invaders of the castle, "My true vocation, and now my unfortunate friend!"

Dana was practically foaming at the mouth, having gone to that psychotic place in her mind as she sang with a hint of insanity in her voice, "You will discover, a war you're unable to win!"

Kennedy, now seeing the flailing hands of her blinded enemies running up the stairs toward her, shouted as if she was yelling a final warning, "I'll have you know! That we've become…" And like her elder sister once yelled in a fight against the mayor, so did she. "NOW!"

The line of mankind's heroes suddenly split into two, which gave way to Andrew, who was standing behind the line the entire time. Andrew was now seen wearing a Punisher shirt over his leather armor, a Punisher bandana across his forehead, two holy water filled pump action super soakers strapped across his back and one super soaker in both hands, as he was aiming at the incoming invaders.

He drew in a breath quickly and pumped the super soaker once as he yelled the final line.

"INDESTRUCTIBLE!"

* * *

><p>All that could be seen across the castle roof top was blinded vampires running uphill, right into a face full of holy water and a quick death. Andrew's last stand plan worked like a charm. The young watcher wasted as little ammo as possible, only briefly melting the faces of any vampire who seemed to not be completely blinded by the industrial strength lights. Kennedy's team as well as Angel and Spike were literally just standing there doing nothing, because Andrew's plan was going so well. Kennedy used the time she had to check on Ilyria's army and help out if she was needed.<p>

"Team Kennedy! Follow my lead!" Kennedy yelled as she and her sister slayer team rejoined Ilyria's demon archers.

What Kennedy witnessed as she looked upon the battle below astounded her. The main event that could be seen was Ilyria and Joan of Arc, in the middle of the battlefield, while dead bodies from both sides all around them formed what looked almost like a boxer's ring, and the two mega powers continued to go at it in the middle. But what really got Kennedy most of all was that not only was most of Ilyria's army still alive and fighting, but she could finally see the ending ranks of Joan's army miles away. But Kennedy and her team saw Andrew's new pets he had summoned working in perfect unison. As the Harry and Marv were back to back, swinging their swords at anything that came near them or the hell hounds, Xena and her pack were biting through the legs of distracted vampires who tried to advance on the sticky bandits.

Kennedy couldn't help but feel a wave of relief. The lead slayer felt as if her and her family… her friends… might survive this fight after all. She was so caught in her moment that she let out a cheer which soon became a group effort.

"L.O.D! L.O.D! L.O.D!"

Andrew couldn't help but smirk at Kennedy and the rest of his team's Legion of Doom chant, as he awaited his next victim. The young watcher was full of confidence as his plan was going off without a hitch.

Unfortunately, what Andrew called "Operation Slayers and Non Essentials" eventually ran its course. Andrew eventually tried to fire holy water to a semi blinded vampire from his last super soaker, but only got water droplets. The young watcher looked down to see the water container of the water gun almost completely emptied.

"Okay, no biggie… we still have the lights," Andrew began. But before he could finish he heard a loud noise.

"CRASH!" A loud glass noise was heard from the stairwell as the blinking lights stopped blinking and no so blinded vampires started to pour through the roof top doorway.

"Slayers! Assemble!" Andrew yelled, realizing his plan was now over.

As more vampires started to pour into the castle roof top, Angel, Spike and Satsu's team were forced to fight for themselves and couldn't pay attention to Andrew's well being. As the first vampire that got by Angel and the others lunged to grab Andrew's shirt, the young watcher quickly pulled a stake to the air and let the vampire stake itself. He had no time to feel proud though, because as soon as the dust settled, a whole bunch of vampires made it past Angel and Satsu's team. Andrew threw his stake at the middle of a vampire, but it bounced off of her harmlessly. The young watcher suddenly panicked and was stuttering words which rendered him unable to cast any spells as fear for his life swept over him.

Thankfully Andrew's life didn't flash before his eyes. The young man felt shadows above him and he almost had a heart attack as Kennedy and the rest of the team landed in front of him without any warning. They didn't hesitate even for a moment, before the group of girls unsheathed their weapons and all laid waste to the group of vampires endangering their watcher.

The glorious moment was short lived however, as the two en-souled vampires and team Satsu came flying toward team Kennedy and landed hard on their rears. All of the warriors of good looked toward the doorway to see what force sent them flying. They witnessed one robed vampire mage leading the charge as well as a sea of vampire bodies starting to make their way up the roof top stairwell.

"Archers! Turn and fire!" Kennedy commanded to Ilyria's archer's as she knew this mage had space between them to cast spells and would be a large problem.

Ilyria's archers turned and fired their arrows at the vampire mage and his comrades. The arrows were blocked however by an invisible force field and were instead sent flying back at their origin, effectively killing the archers that had fired the arrows. Vampires now covered the castle roof top and started to run toward mankind's heroes.

"Here we go," Kennedy muttered under her breath.

Team Kennedy, Angel, Spike and team Satsu raised their weapons in preparation for the incoming onslaught. The vampire mage's hands started to glow purple as he chanted. Being able to witness everything unfolding from behind the slayer line, Andrew soon realized when the mage pulled back his hands, that he was getting ready to launch a magical attack. Acting quickly, he started to conjure up magics of his own and a familiar black and red glow of his aura took over him.

Just as the vampire mage launched his purple beam of energy at the slayers and their team, Andrew jumped to the front of the slayer line with arm's outstretched to meet the beam with magics of his own. The two magics colliding was so powerful that any vampires that got too close to the point of impact, were almost instantly turned to dust as stray electric bolts of destruction flew into the air.

The slayers slight relief of not having to deal with the vampire army that was now building in size on the castle roof top quickly drowned in fear of the mages magics, as the young watcher caught the magical blast but soon discovered it was too powerful and was now defending his friends with a red force field while on one knee. Within seconds, Andrew was on both knees and leaning forward with both arms shaking as if he were trying to lift twice his own weight.

Every warrior of good just watched helplessly, but one knew that she could help.

"Ken, when I'm about to fall, grab me!" Dawn told her friend and leader.

Dawn quickly took off her leather gloves, wrapped her hands around the back of her boyfriend's neck, closed her eyes and breathed deeply and started to chant. Within seconds, Dawn's hands were glowing white and the veins in her body bulged severely. Not so much as ten seconds passed when Dawn's knees started to buckle and Kennedy stepped in and snatched her best friend off of her watcher. As Kennedy held a shaky Dawn who was catching her breath, she noticed that whatever Dawn had done… had worked.

Andrew's upper body had stopped shaking and cringing and the young man had even managed to get back up to his feet.

"Guys, step back," he commanded.

Everyone behind Andrew did as he asked and took a few steps back… for good reason. Andrew soon breathed deeply and started to yell very loudly with such anger, his voice could be heard from amongst the many war cries below. As the young watcher was yelling, his black and red aura started to erupt from him like he was soaked in gasoline and lit on fire. His veins were greatly bulged just as Dawn's had been and he began to chant an incantation very loudly until he stopped and smirked a large smirk.

While holding the barrio protecting him and his friends, Andrew bent his knees and spread his legs shoulder width apart. He then tucked his now red glowing hands to the side of his waist and yelled once again, "KAAA!"

"Waaaiit a minute…" Satsu said, instantly realizing what Andrew was going to do since she used to watch a great deal of anime.

"MEEE!"

"Ohhh, nooo way! If he can pull this off I'll clean the dishes, pots and pans for a month!" Rona exclaimed, watching with wide eyes.

"HAAA!"

"What the bloody hell are you birds going on about?" Spike asked in wonder.

"MEEE!"

"Oh for fuck sake, you have got to be kidding me! There's no way he can mix real magic with that lame ass show!" Kennedy remarked, finally realizing what Andrew was up to,.

"HHHHHHHAAAAAAAA!" Andrew exclaimed as he stretched out his arms back toward the vampire mage. His aura and the barrier's energy and color were sucked into his hands and then released all at once in an "all or nothing" counterattack. His magical attack slowly but surely started to form a beam of red energy, which began to push back his enemies magical attack until both attacks met in a stale mate, several meters away from both magic users.

Not one vampire nor slayer dared to attack each other in fear of getting vaporized by the stray electrical bolts. For almost a minute, both Andrew and the robed vampire mage were unable to best one another. Finally, the robed vampire smiled and evil grin and chanted. Andrew couldn't tell what the enchantment was. The only word he understood was the last sentence, which was something about "my life for my enemies."

His eyes almost popped out of his head when he realized what his enemy was going to do.

"Everyone, hold onto something and stay down!" he shouted to his comrades as they all did as he instructed, bracing themselves for whatever was about to come.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Notes:** Almost at the end of our journey.

Chapter Eighteen

It was only mere seconds before the robed mage's body glowed a purple color and then turned to ash and a huge ball of purple energy traveled up the now dead vampire's energy beam.

The sound of a pre-bomb detonation was all that could be felt and heard as the ball of purple energy traveled to Andrew's attack, until it finally collided with his beam of energy. Once the magical forces collided, a huge flash of colored lights originating from the castle roof top filled the sky and got the attention of all the warriors on the battlefield below.

As the light show started, so did the entire roof top explode. Chunks of stone, vampires, slayers, weapons and for some unknown reason, flying apes filled the air. Andrew's summoned apes tried to come to his rescue as best they could once they saw the bright lights and felt the explosion.

Although these hell gorillas were indeed strong, they could not carry and fly with all of Kennedy's team, Angel, Spike, Satsu and Dana clinging to them. The two groups crashed to the ground with enough force to seriously injure even the toughest of slayers, but the sticky bandits made sure that they were the first to hit the ground to soften the landing of the others as much as possible. The two summoned creature indeed saved the slayers and their friends, as now all the occupants of the roof top with exception of Satsu's team were nowhere to be seen. The group quickly regained their strength and composure after the fall and began to stand, gathering their surroundings.

"Oh… God that hurt. Okay, who's still alive?" Kennedy asked as she began to check her body for injuries and scan the area around her to look for the others all at the same time.

"Isn't having one broken arm enough?" Rona complained as she managed to stand with Vi's help.

"Wait… where's Satsu? Satsu?" Kennedy began to yell, looking around frantically for her second in command.

"I knew it!" *cough* "I knew you couldn't wait to get another shot at me!" Satsu chuckled before coughing yet again as she and Dana walked toward the group, leaning on each other for support. Kennedy smiled at the girl and felt relief wash over her.

"Andrew… Andrew! C'mon baby wake up!" Dawn shouted with tears pooling in her eyes. She was shaking the young man and had even slapped at his face several times in hopes of getting him to open his eyes.

"Star Trek is better than Star Wars!" Satsu yelled from behind Dawn, causing everyone but Dawn to look at her.

"Who? What? Lies!" Andrew shouted from his spot on the ground at Satsu's comment, as his eyes shot open. He didn't move from his position however, as chronic pain and fatigue washed over him.

"I knew it would work," Satsu said with a grin.

"Oh thank God you're alive! Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Dawn shouted at her boyfriend as she bent down and hugged him… hard.

"D… Dawn… air… need… air…" Andrew pleaded as the pain in his body and the need for oxygen became overwhelming. Dawn loosened her grip on him and smiled.

"Can you stand?" she asked him, as she tried her best to help him up. But as soon as he got up, he was down again, collapsing, clutching his chest and wheezing heavily as he breathed.

"Okay, so we have a handful of ass kicked slayers and one half dead watcher in training left to fight a war… we're so fucked," Kennedy remarked, after watching Andrew fall to the ground and looking around at the bruised and battered slayers that surrounded her.

"Don't count us out yet love… big bad here isn't dead yet," Spike spoke out as he walked toward the group, his bleach blonde hair and leather clad jacket blowing in the wind and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He had blood on his face and looked like he had taken quite the beating himself.

But before anyone had a chance to say anything, a loud growl came from behind them and the group of heroes quickly turned to see a vampire lunging like a wolf in mid air, ready to tackle Kennedy to the ground.

Instead however of a bull rushed slayer, all the group saw was a blur of black clothing. In less than three seconds, Angel appeared, bleeding from his forehead, fully vamped out, as he grabbed the attacking vampire by the neck as it was mid-air with one hand. In one smooth motion he heaved the undead body into a jagged nearby tree branch, head first.

"Show off," Kennedy said with a smile as Angel turned back to face them.

"I prefer savior but we don't get to pick our names I guess," Angel replied, smiling back at the young slayer.

"Ken… what do we do now?" Vi asked.

Kennedy quickly surveyed her surroundings. Andrew was in no shape to even stand, the top of the castle was destroyed, demons were fighting vampires and as Kennedy continued to survey the scene, Ilyria landed right into the middle of the standing circle of heroes, on her back.

"That wench! I will tear her limb from limb and devour her soul!" Ilyria shouted angrily as she slowly got back to her feet.

"Ilyria wait!" She stopped and looked back at Kennedy who had addressed her. "I know you're a queen and everything but I need you, Angel and Spike to do something else right now," Ken explained.

"What do you have in mind?" Angel asked curiously.

"Okay… for starters, I need you and Spike to keep Andrew alive. Hide him if you can and give him a weapon or something… if you can find one. But I need you to stay near him. All the vampires in the castle will start to come out here soon so I will need you to help defend the back ranks. We can afford to get sandwiched."

Angel nodded his head at Kennedy's plan and moved toward Andrew.

"Ilyria… we won't be able to win this war if you keep butting heads with that Joan bitch. I need you to make your way to their back ranks, secretly if you can and when you are there… do what you do best. We need to dwindle their numbers and save your armies ranks, hopefully gaining a big numbers advantage so we can end this a lot more quickly," Kennedy continued.

"What about this Joan of Arc? Without someone to meet her, she will reek havoc upon my clan," Ilyria stated simply.

"Leave Joan to me," Kennedy replied with a tone cold enough to freeze fire. "Bitch dared to attack my people… my home… she's mine."

Ilyria nodded much the same way Angel had in agreement and made her way toward her position. Kennedy then turned to face her group.

"Guys, I know how bad you are hurting because I am too," she began her speech to them as she grabbed the closest weapon she could find. She picked it up, signaling to the others who had lost their weapon in the blast to do the same. "Tough shit though… Look. I mean really… look around us. This is our home, our people and look what it has been reduced to! Nothing but crumbling stone and a huge fucking body count! I'm not doing this just to be a slayer anymore. I'm doing this for every one of our friends who died and will haunt our dreams until we die!"

Kennedy could feel the power rushing back to her as she continued her speech and she could see the power rising up in the others that she was addressing.

"Fuck responsibility! Fuck duty! And fuck being a slayer! We watched our brothers and sisters burn until they were nothing more than dust in the wind," Kennedy continued, shouting the words with passion that would outshine the sun itself as she turned and faced the ongoing battle.

"NOT… ONE… FUCKING…MORE!" she screamed completely motionless, only flexing the muscles in her chest as the words left her mouth with enough force to make the nearby trees vibrate.

With her speech completed, Kennedy shifted all her weight to her toes and started to walk towards the ongoing carnage, the rest of the slayers following suit. After a few strides, they began a full forced gallop toward the battle. Marching toward the battlefield from left to right was Rona, Vi, Dana, Kennedy, Satsu and Dawn.

And so marched the slayers of Scotland, running full speed into the fray with fury in their eyes and a war cry clinging to their lips.

* * *

><p>When the slayers finally collided with the ongoing battle, it was like a force of nature tearing the earth apart. Not one slayer wasted time by slowing down for anything. The line of slayers hit every vampire in their path while dodging attacks, never slowing down their forward momentum, leaving Ilyria's demon army to finish off the wounded if the blows delivered weren't enough to kill.<p>

Ilyria soon successfully made it to the back ranks of Joan's army and started turning vampires to dust with just her hands. The demon queen was tearing off heads and ripping off limbs, completely disabling anything she touched.

Meanwhile, the two souled vampires found themselves being charged upon by the castle's vampires just as Kennedy had predicted. They had just managed to hide a barely conscious Andrew under a pile of dead bodies before the attacks began. The vampires grabbed hands as they witnessed a large number of vampires charging toward them, not more than twenty feet away.

"One." Ten feet.

"Two" Five feet.

"Three!"

Within the blink of an eye, Spike and Angel separated, beheading five vampires in the process and catching two long swords in mid-air before they hit the ground below.

As the battle raged on, it was little by little becoming apparent that the heroes were winning the war. By dwindling Joan's back ranks using Ilyria and striking unsuspecting vampires while they were fighting Ilyria's army of demons, the slayers were turning the tide of the battle. This strategy was being very effective until after a wall of vampire dust settled, Joan of Arc and a large group of her minions stood mere feet in front of the slayers.

"There you are my dears," Joan began. "I must admit, I'm impressed. Instead of killing you all except for one, I think I will personally turn all of you! Now doesn't that sound lovely? You will have eternal power, beauty and youth. So what say you? Let us stop fighting and join forces. You would be surprised how liberating it can be to live without a soul," Joan announced to the slayers.

"Just… bring it bitch!" Kennedy replied without hesitation, speaking for the entire group and taunting Joan to step forward by waving her fingers toward herself.

"Pity… now you all must die. Alas, I guess turning the original two slayers will have to do," Joan said, shaking her head in mock disgust. She stopped and looked back up at Kennedy, an evil smile on her face. "Vampires of Arcadia! ATTAAACCK!"

And like a wave hitting a rock, so did the two forces of good and evil collide, each slayer having to fend off more than one vampire at a time.

Rona was luckily able to use the teachings of her demon instructor, since she was able to find a small battle axe before she charged into battle. The slayer quickly chucked her axe into the stomach of a vampire while running toward her enemies. Before finally colliding with the undead wall, she quickly spun around and delivered a backhanded clothesline to the vampire beside her first victim, knocking him off his feet. Rona then withdrew her axe from the belly of her vampire foe while her back was turned to him, spun around to decapitate the vampire and then quickly bent down to decapitate the other vampire that she had knocked flat on his back. Upon getting back to a full stance, Rona quickly set her sights on her next target.

Vi and Dana were next to fall into battle. Dana was glad to find she still had Faith's Butterfly Daggers, but Vi was stuck with two wooden stakes that she had tucked under her leather armor. When they hit the wall of vampires, they both dodged all attacks until they were in the center of the vampire group. The two slayers both smiled sadistically.

"Back to back!" Vi yelled.

With blinding speed and incredible evasion, the two slayers used their duel wielding instructions well, killing their enemies as quickly as they could attack.

Satsu was quick to follow Vi and Dana's lead as she lead with her front foot and quickly unsheathed her Kitana. Her targets didn't know what had hit them, before they hit the ground. Satsu didn't waste time trying to decapitate or stab, but instead she rendered her targets useless as she bobbed and weaved between her opponents, slicing at their legs and wrists as she made her way toward her sister slayers.

This left Dawn for the most part on clean up duty. After performing a flying roundhouse kick to the first vampire she came in contact with, she unsheathed her Dragon slayer and went to town on what remained of Satsu's victims. That was until Dawn came broadsword to broadsword with a grizzly bear of a vampire and was forced to fight him steel on steel.

With all her sister slayers keeping the lackeys busy, Kennedy got her wish facing Joan herself. Kennedy got the first swings in, or so she thought. Joan of Arc allowed the slayer and her long sword to strike at her purposely. Joan of Arc was a master at her fighting style. She brought her shield up to face Kennedy's steel, and swayed her arms left and right, deflecting the attacks from the slayer. Finally, Joan deflected Kennedy's long sword to the left with her shield and got in a metal gauntlet punch to Kennedy's mouth. Her head snapped back, strands of hair brushing over her face, blood coming out of her mouth. But instead of reacting and despite how pissed off she was, she merely gave Joan the "bring it" sign once more.

With fury and tears in her eyes, Kennedy indeed brought it. With both hands gripping the handle of her blade, the young slayer launched attacks all over Joan of Arc's body. Unfortunately, even though some attacks landed, they barely scratched or dented Joan's armor. Even with Joan landing hard punches with her gauntlet fists, Kennedy was so full of rage that she allowed her body to use the force hitting her to add to her own bodies momentum and to the fluency of her attacks. When Joan punched her to the left side of the face, Kennedy spun to the right and went for a shin slash. When Joan punched her to the right side of the face, Kennedy spun to the left and went for an arm or rib attack.

After a short time of trading blows, Joan of Arc decided to stop playing with her meal. She parried Kennedy's overhead swing with her sword and bashed the young slayer in the face with her shield.

Once… twice… and then a third time. As Kennedy was temporarily stunned, Joan capitalized. The legendary woman swung her sword side to side and up and down, effectively harming the slayer while being rewarded with anguished screams. First, Joan ripped open skin right across Kennedy's breasts, causing the slayer to turn. Then, she followed with a backhand slash to Kennedy's back, spinning the slayer backward again. Joan continued her assault as she quickly used her forehand grip on her sword to again rend flesh from Kennedy, this time from her abdomen as the slayer spun backward once more. Finally, Joan's instinct brought the thought of a finishing blow to mind as she performed a vertical backhand slash up Ken's entire back, dropping the slayer to her knees with a loud cry of pain.

Dawn, just finishing off her monstrous enemy using the trick Angel showed her, caught the sight of the ending blow dealt to her best friend, watching as Ken dropped to her knees with her back facing Joan of Arc. Dawn tossed her broadsword in the air and caught it upside-down, ready to pull a "Hail Mary" toss to Joan's face, while praying that Kennedy didn't get up… or worse… that Joan killed Kennedy before the sword could hit her. At the last second, before Dawn made the throw, she hesitated, spotting something on the floor a few feet away.

"Oh, thank you lord," Dawn whispered out loud, not to anyone in particular.

* * *

><p>"You fought well for someone so young… so beautiful," Joan seductively whispered into Kennedy's ear while bending over behind the young slayer, licking the blood, sweat and dirt from Kennedy's neck and face. "This is your last chance slayer… join me and the pleasures I offer you… or be destroyed."<p>

"Bite me bitch," Kennedy replied, while still on her knees, her back facing her destroyer as Joan tilted her head to expose her neck. The slayer was in too much pain to even attempt to defend herself. At this point, it hurt even to breathe.

"So be it. You will die like the rest of the slayers before you have," Joan of Arc said as she raised her sword in the air, getting ready to finish off the lead slayer once and for all.

"Ken! Catch!" Dawn shouted as she threw something at Kennedy, while lights started to come closer and closer and brighter and brighter toward them.

Through Kennedy's blood soaked eyes and hair, her constant pain and quickly fading body, she managed to give her attention to Dawn at the sound of her name. As soon as Ken saw what Dawn tossed at her, she smiled at the exact same time that she caught the object with one hand. It was as if she had suddenly remembered that she had left the stove on in the house… she felt it. There was no pain… there was no fear… and there was no doubt. There was only death… and death was her gift.

Object caught, head down, dark hair covering her blood and dust stained face, the sword of Damocles hanging over her head and Kennedy could do nothing but smile sadistically as if she had already won.

Not caring what was in her soon to be dead slayer's hand, Joan wasted no more time in bringing down death upon the slayer in front of her. But instead, all that was heard was a clinking sound as what was to be the sound of metal hitting bone and flesh was replaced with the sound of metal hitting metal. The sight of Kennedy being ripped in two from behind was instead replaced with the sight of Kennedy now facing her opponent on her knees, head still down with hair covering her face and an arm outstretched blocking Joan's attack with… the scythe.

Joan of Arc couldn't believe what she was witnessing. Her attack was completely halted by some woman, barely out of her teens with a mere scythe.

"Impossible, the strongest magics of the old enchanted my weapons and armor… how are you and your weapon not broken?" Joan questioned out loud, clearly confused by the change in events.

As quick as lightening, Kennedy looked up at Joan of Arc, replaying the words that she had spoken just moments before in her mind. "You will die like the rest of the slayers before you have." Ken had a flash of visions in her head… seeing the faces and bodies of her sister slayers who had not survived.

Then it happened.

That look. The look that the legendary Buffy Summers gave the First when she arose from the stab wound that was supposed to kill her while facing the Turokan. The look that said more than words ever could. The look of absolute determination, as if the gods themselves had just spoken and told the world that Kennedy was going to win.

"NOT… ONE… MORE!" Kennedy shouted with all she had.

At the words, Kennedy shoved Joan of Arc backward with one hand holding the scythe as she rose from her knees almost in slow motion, still with the look of pure determination and rage on her face. She just stood there, not moving as her enemy was recovering from the shock that she had no already won. Joan quickly shook off her disbelief and charged at her enemy.

Kennedy stood completely still until the last possible second. As Joan lashed out at the young slayer with a vertical slashed aimed for her neck, Ken bent backward and avoided the attack, almost with such speed that you would need slow motion to see it. The young slayer quickly followed up by side stepping, crouching and launching forward with a horizontal slash to Joan's upper abdomen. Again, bright lights illuminated the scene for a few seconds.

That brief illusion showed Kennedy lurched forward a few strides past Joan of Arc, and Joan frozen in her attacking position as if she was suddenly struck with paralysis. Joan was completely still, trying to figure out what had just happened and how she had a bleeding gash at her side and cut in her armor. However, Joan didn't have time to think, and she was doing the best she could now to defend herself against what was the fury of Kennedy.

Ken's onslaught was finally starting to do some damage to Joan. All over her body, her armor was denting and some spots had cuts in it. Kennedy kept on attacking, blow after blow. Eventually, the attacks backed Joan up into a tree, which lowered her guard for a second as her back hit the trunk.

"Who… who are… who are you?" Joan asked just as Kennedy shoved the stake end of the scythe vertically into Joan's stomach, straight through and protruding through the left side of her neck.

"I am no one," Kennedy spoke in a voice that would give you chills down your spine with the anger the words contained. She spoke to Joan with cold malice and quickly pulled her weapon from Joan's body.

Just like Buffy had before her against the Turokan, Kennedy flipped the scythe right side up in mid-air with one hand, gripped the weapon with two hands and swung for Joan's head.

"WE… ARE… SLAYERS!" Kennedy screamed as bright lights illuminated her again and her weapon found its way through her enemy, cutting right through Joan's shield as she raised it and then making direct contact with Joan's head.

Before the was even a chance to recover from the battle that had just happened, the sound of a honking horn caught the attention of the remaining.

*HONK! HONK!*

Suddenly everyone turned toward the source of the honking and bright lights to see a shell shocked Buffy and company in tropical clothing, standing outside of their car.

Buffy looked around at the scene in front of her with complete shock.

Her home was crumbling. There were vampires who were either running for their lives or being torn apart by demons. A jet was parked on one side of the lawn and a camp ground was on the other side of the lawn. The front lawn was completely ruined and Angel stood there just looking at the blonde slayer. Spike was facing her too, and he backward punched a random vampire in the face. Her sister and the other main slayers looked like they had just returned from a war in the middle east. Ilyria caught Buffy's eye as she popped off the head of a random vampire bare handed. And last but not least, Andrew came stumbling out of a pile of what Buffy could only assume were dead bodies, looking like a drunken mess.

Buffy glanced around her surroundings again and then looked back to Faith and the rest of the Scoobies as they started to look around at all the chaos surrounding them.

"What the fuck happened?" she asked.


	19. Chapter 19

***AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thanks to all who have read and enjoyed. I really appreciate it. I have to give a shout out to the other half of this team, my good friend and truth be told my crush..(funny how she knows this and plays me every chance she gets. but anyways), ...SMunoz24. Every bit of emotion brought out by this stories characters, she made happen. The picture perfect dialogue that fits every character's persona like a glove...yep she made that happen. All hail my queen of awesome. Ok...So Don't be afraid to shoot an e-mail with comments or questions or PM me. Oh and yeah, there is a sequel coming.* **

Chapter Nineteen

Buffy stood in the darkness of her now partially destroyed room in the castle. It had been only a few hours since she and the Scoobies had returned and found death and destruction all around them. She stood in silence and alone as she looked at the mattresses on the floor and the things that had been thrown about in her once tidy and clean bedroom. She felt tears spring to her eyes for the first time since she had gotten back but before she could do much more thinking, she felt a warm pair of arms wrap her up from behind.

"You alright B?" Faith asked in her raspy voice that Buffy could no longer deny she loved. Their mini vacation hadn't been exactly what they were all hoping for, due to the nasty tropical storm that hit just days after arriving. But the storm did give her and Faith plenty of time to get to know one another in their bedroom… all day long. At first she was worried when she couldn't get in touch with the castle, wanting to check up on things after her first phone call when they had arrived. But after a few days, she stopped worrying, and let herself just enjoy the time away. Now that she was back and she saw just what had happened while she was gone, she was regretting letting her guard down.

"I shouldn't have left them," Buffy said, pushing the tears back.

"It wasn't your fault," Faith said calmly as she brushed the hair away from Buffy's neck and placed a soft kiss on her pulse point. Buffy closed her eyes when she felt Faith's full lips touch her and she sighed into the touch.

"They weren't ready to face this on their own and they died because of it… it is my fault," Buffy replied, though her voice didn't raise. Faith carefully and slowly spun the blonde around so she could see her face and as she did she watched a few stray tears fall down her cheeks. Faith smiled warmly and wiped them away with her thumbs.

"What was it you said to me back in SunnyD? You know, after that night at the vineyard?" Faith asked. She didn't wait for Buffy to respond though before continuing. "You said people die in war. That you are going to lead them into battle and some of them might die," Faith finished.

"This is different Faith," Buffy said, pulling out of Faith's grasp and making her way over to the bed, sitting down on it. Faith bit her tongue at the response and instead made her way over next to her girlfriend, sitting right beside her, taking one of Buffy's hands in her own.

"How is this different B?"

"I wasn't even here… I should have been here," she whispered in response.

"What would that have changed? They still wouldn't have been prepared… none of us would have been prepared for an attack like the one it looks like they got. Even with you here, not everyone would have made it probably," Faith tried to reason.

"I know that… I do…"

"You should be proud of them. They fought hard and defended our home, some of them making it through."

"You're right baby… you're right," Buffy said, her first real smile coming from her lips as she glanced over at her girlfriend sitting next to her. They had grown so close over the past week and Buffy had finally realized that it wasn't that she had bad luck with relationships… it was that she had never found the right person. And right here and now, she knew that Faith was the right person for her.

Buffy leaned in and pressed her lips against Faith's, pulling her close so that she couldn't get away even if she had wanted to. Not that she did. Faith smiled as the kiss continued and deepened it, thankful that she had been able to say the right thing to help Buffy.

When the kiss ended, Buffy stood up, and Faith groaned in protest.

"Back to the grind huh?" Faith asked, watching as Buffy's smile faded slightly.

"We really should go see how everyone is doing… Olivia was giving them all the medical attention they needed and Willow was reinforcing the barrier around the castle and the grounds… she's probably done by now," Buffy explained.

Faith stood up and stretched her arms above her head, exposing the skin on her stomach. She saw as Buffy glanced at her and chuckled softly.

"See something you like?" Faith asked, knowing very well that Buffy knew she had been caught by the blush that broke out across her cheeks.

"No… I see something I love," Buffy responded, taking a step forward and crashing her lips to Faith's again in a heated kiss.

Just then Angel and Spike came through the door, their eyes adjusting to the dark and able to maneuver around all the debris from the castle, looking for Buffy and Faith so they could start the debriefing.

"Slayer… time for a meet…" Spike froze when he saw Buffy and Faith, with their arms around each other, kissing passionately. Angel didn't say a word, but he too saw the embrace and kiss and stopped where he was standing. Buffy and Faith broke apart at Spike's voice, but stood close together, their hands by their sides. "What is it with this place? Everyone has gone bloody mad! First Dawn and that obnoxious watcher wanna be and now you two!" Spike yelled out, exasperated.

"I know it seems sudden," Buffy responded, completely missing the last comment about Dawn and Andrew in her attempt to explain about her and Faith to the two vampires.

"Actually, not if you really think about it… doesn't seem sudden at all," Angel replied from where he was standing. His facial expression never changed, even when Spike looked over at him and glared.

"Really? So you are cool with this?" Faith asked Angel. She had never mentioned to Buffy her hesitance to tell the en-souled vampire about their new relationship. Angel meant a lot to Faith, and she knew that she owed him her life. The last thing she wanted was to ruin that by being with Buffy… but nothing was going to keep her from being with the blonde… not even Angel.

"It makes sense… there has always been a strong connection between the two of you. All that anger and violence fueled by love," Angel explained. Buffy smiled at him and then took Faith's hand in hers.

"Never saw you and the rogue here shaking up but it's better than being dumped for him," Spike said, pointing his finger over at Angel who still wore the same expression on his face.

"I didn't dump you! We didn't date!" Buffy exclaimed, irritated at Spike's implication.

"Whatever you say slayer… I'm telling you… there's got to be some sort of crazy love spell on this place or something," Spike said, looking over at Angel. "Come on… we came to get you for the meeting." He turned to head out the door but didn't move more than a foot before Buffy stood up in less than a second, eyes bulging out of her head as she processed what he had previously said.

"Wait! What? Love spell? Dawn? Andrew?... Wait? What?" she asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Angel asked.

"Know what?"

Spike glanced at Angel and Angel then glanced over to Faith and then Buffy.

"I'm not going to be the one to tell her about the kid sister… you can do it," Spike said nodding in Angel's direction.

"I am not going to be the one to tell her," Angel replied.

"Dawn," both Angel and Spike said at once as they nodded in agreement to each other.

"Guys! Still standing right here… and if one of you doesn't tell me right now, I'll make sure you both disappear immediately," Buffy warned as she watched the exchange between the two vampires.

"Fine… but you aren't going to like this Buffy," Angel said, moving closer to her and looking at Faith with the corner of his eye. He gave Faith a look that she didn't quite understand and she cocked her head at him with curiosity.

"Your sis is dating the geek boy… Andrew," Spike announced. Everyone watched as Buffy's eyes flashed from surprised to confused, to worried, to angry, to completely grossed out. She covered her mouth with her hand and Faith used her hand to keep Buffy standing upright by holding her back. Spike smiled sadistically as he watched the horror on the blonde slayers face and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Oh my god!" Buffy said through her hand covered mouth.

"You've got to be joking," Faith responded.

"I wish we were," Spike said, that evil smile still on his lips as he nodded toward the hallway. "Ask her."

"DAAAWWWNN!" Buffy screamed, anger filling the words as she charged her way out the door before Faith or either vampire had a chance to stop her.

* * *

><p>Buffy Summers was many things. First and foremost she was a girl… just a girl like all the others in the world that loved shopping and shoes and cookies. She was a daughter, a sister, in many ways a mother, a girlfriend and a best friend to a one-eyed carpenter and a red-haired witch. She was petite and beautiful, even on her worst hair days.<p>

But she was also more than that. She was the slayer… the one that had lived the longest, even counting the two times she died and was brought back… the one that had fought the most and worst evil and won… she was one of the last chosen slayers. She was a living legend.

Faith had learned quite a bit about the woman she had been in love with for so many years on their little mini vacation. She had done more listening in those seven days than she ever thought she was capable of. One of the most important things she had learned:

When you kept a secret from Buffy… it wasn't going to end well.

This bit of information was coming to surface in Faith's mind as she ran out the door following her girlfriend, who was dead set on finding the youngest Summers and giving her a piece of her own mind. There was a part of Faith that was still stunned by the revelation that Dawn was now dating nerdy Andrew, mostly because she thought for sure he was gay, but also because Dawn had never even indicated she was at all interested in the young man. But another part of her was worried about Buffy and just exactly what she was going to do to Dawn or Andrew when she found them.

The darkness of the castle made running after Buffy a lot more difficult than Faith had thought it would be, so she didn't catch up to her before Buffy had already circled the castle and found Dawn, cornering her in what remained of the library where the meeting was going to take place. The others hadn't yet arrived.

"I think you have something you need to tell me," Buffy said sternly as she crossed her hands over her chest and glared at the young girl.

"What are you talking about?" Dawn asked, looking genuinely confused at the meaning behind her sister's words.

"Don't give me that crap… I want to hear you say it to me," Buffy said, not flinching when Faith walked up behind her and rested her hand on the swell of her back.

"Babe… maybe we should just get this meeting over with and then you can rip her a new asshole for keeping a secret from you, okay?" Faith offered, glancing over at Dawn, watching as the realization of what Buffy was talking about hit her… hard.

"No. We are going to talk about this now," Buffy replied, never taking her eyes off of Dawn. "Well?"

"Buffy, are you insane? You want to do this now? We just fought a huge war against a vampire Saint and you want to talk about this right now? Geez Buffy, I was going to tell you but I was a little busy trying to breathe!" Dawn started, only to be interrupted by Buffy.

"So it is true! You have got to be kidding me Dawn! Really? How long have you been keeping this from me?" Buffy shouted out, her anger taking over. Faith took a step back, shooting a sympathetic look in Dawn's direction before sitting down on one of the only remaining chairs. There was nothing she could do to help either of them, so she thought it would be best if she just sit back and watch the show.

"Who the hell are you to judge my love life? You're one to act all pissy when it comes to secrets, but you were the one hiding the fact that you were sleeping with Faith!" Dawn shouted back, making Faith chuckle lightly.

"That isn't the same thing," Buffy said, knowing she was lying.

"Don't give me that Buffy! It is the same!" Dawn screamed in response. Buffy's eyes bulged even further out of her head for what seemed like the millionth time that night and she covered her gasp with her hand.

"You had sex with him?" Buffy screamed. Dawn's eyes now widened as she realized what she had unintentionally revealed to her older sister.

Just as Buffy opened her mouth to verbally assassinate her younger sister, a voice sounded into the room.

"Hey guys, where is everyone? Did I miss the meeting?"

"YOU!" Buffy spoke out, looking at the young man with enough venom to scare even a king cobra. Andrew stopped dead in his tracks.

"Me?" Andrew asked, looking like he had been hit by a truck with claws as he limped into the library.

"That a boy Andy! Pop that cherry!" Faith yelled out as she slung her arm around the watcher junior's shoulders. Both Summers women's eyes widened in perfect unison. The only different between them was that Buffy's face was contorted with anger, so much so that Faith could have sworn her lover had been turned into a vampire.

"Faith! Stop starting shit!" Dawn squealed. Faith couldn't help but form a giant grin. She figured since shit was going to hit the fan anyway, she at least ought to have some fun in the meantime.

"Pop what cherry? You guys brought back cherries?" Andrew asked Faith, clearly confused. Faith couldn't help but laugh but it was cut short as she barely opened her eyes wide enough to see Buffy was on the warpath toward Andrew.

"What's so funny?' Ken asked, as she and Willow walked over to Faith and Andrew. Faith could tell that Ken was on edge and she assumed it had to do with Willow's return to the castle.

"Oh, B here is just pissed that Dawnie didn't tell her she was fucking the boy," Faith said non-chalantly as if she hadn't found out only moments before, all the while wiggling Andrew's shoulders with her arm still slung around them. Willow slowly turned her head toward Dawn and gave her a slow scowly face, while crooking her head to one side.

Dawn couldn't form words. Nobody, absolutely no one that they knew of had ever survived the scowly face of Willow Rosenburg. After a few seconds, Willow softened her look, turning to Andrew with a confused look on her face.

"Aren't you gay?" she asked him.

"He's not gay!" Dawn shouted, leaning around Buffy to yell directly at Willow, before striding in front of Buffy and continuing her fight with her sister.

"Yeah Willow, try to keep up," Kennedy said sarcastically, the anger obvious in her tone.

Faith left the side of a dumbstruck Andrew the second the words left Ken's mouth, as she could feel the magic in Willow starting to boil. She hadn't just learned a lot about the girl she was head over heels in love with on their little vacation… oh no. She had spent several long hours with the red-haired witch trying to cheer her up when they first arrived.

Before she even had a chance to stop anything, their voices began to ring out in the library, side by side with Buffy and Dawn's.

"Guess you really are over me then huh Kennedy? Was I just convenient until you found something better?" Willow shouted, causing Ken to step up more into her and scream back.

"Maybe I should be asking you the same thing… seeing as how I was nothing more than a rebound hook up for you!"

Faith's head was bouncing back and forth as she watched the two separate fights rage on right in front of her, with a vision of a shocked Andrew in between. She wasn't quite sure which fight was more dangerous, so she stood in between the two groups, ready to step in whichever fight called for it first.

With all the yelling going on, she wasn't surprised when Angel and Spike wandered into the room, Spike mocking Angel and Angel trying his best to ignore him.

"Told you that you got dumped… how's it feel to not be Buffy's soul mate after all?" Spike quipped. Angel didn't even flinch when he turned around, and grabbed Spike by the throat, holding him tightly against the wall.

"Do you ever shut up?" Angel asked, as Spike kicked his stomach, causing Angel to let go.

"Do you ever stop brooding? She doesn't love you!" Spike yelled back at him.

Faith quickly realized that it was their fight that would be the most dangerous, so she made a move to head over toward them, but before she could, two more groups walked into the door, all arguing amongst themselves, oblivious to the arguments going on around them.

"Giles, if I try to fix all of this myself it will take me years!" Xander was whining into the older man's ear.

"I don't feel it necessary to use all of our funds until we know exactly what type of damage we are talking about," Giles tried to explain, his voice only mildly irritated.

"Have you looked around this place! It needs like a complete rebuild! Come on, you really need to stop being so cheap!"

"I resent that," Giles said, spinning and looking directly at Xander. "I am not cheap!"

Faith only watched their argument for a brief moment before her ears got caught up in the argument between Vi and Rona.

"I'm fine! It doesn't even hurt that much!" Rona was saying loudly to Vi, who seemed to want to be coddling Rona's wounds. "Besides, you were hurt worse than I was."

"No I wasn't! You took the brunt of it!" Vi said.

As the five groups of two argued on, Faith stood still in the center of the room, just watching all of them. She looked up to the ceiling with her hands in a prayer position and spoke out to the room.

"Why me God? Why me?"

It was several minutes before the noise level in the room escalated to something she couldn't handle and she held her hands over her ears.

"ENOUGH!" she yelled out, causing them all to stop arguing and look over at her. "Enough okay. Vi, Rona… you both look like shit. Rona, after the meeting go upstairs and let Vi coddle the fuck out of you because you will miss it later, trust me. Giles, stop being a cheap fuck and fork over the money so Xander here doesn't have to do all the work himself and it doesn't take years for this place to get fixed. Spike, you will never get a chance with Buffy ever again, so shut the hell up. Ken, Will, after this meeting you two need to seriously work your shit out. And B…" Faith paused, not wanting to say the wrong thing and get one of those killer right hooks she knew her girlfriend loved so much.

"Yeah F?" Buffy asked, emphasizing the letter and flashing her a sweet smile, making it hard for Faith to remember what it was she had wanted to say in the first place.

"Baby… maybe you should just give Dawn a chance to explain," Faith offered. The smile that Buffy had on her face disappeared the second the words were out of Faith's mouth and were instead replaced by a glare from her eyes. Faith didn't back down though, she just smiled at Buffy, showing her the dimples that she knew would work. "Look babe, I know she's your baby sister… practically your daughter even, but she is almost a grown woman. She has needs and deserves to be happy. Plus, until recently it seemed as though the life of slayer meant a shitty romantic track record. Isn't it better she find happiness with one of us than risk getting an innocent involved in our world? Or shaking up with something worse?"

Buffy still glared at Faith until Faith smiled again, showing off those dimples that Buffy loved so much. Faith couldn't help but smile even bigger when Buffy let out a huge sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Fine… Dawn… please explain," Buffy said turning to Dawn.

"Explain what? What did I miss?" Xander asked, making his way over to Faith. Kennedy smiled from where she was standing.

"Dawn here is hooking up with Hue Hefner over there," Ken remarked, causing Giles to immediately whip off his glasses and Xander's mouth to drop open in a cartoon fashion. Vi and Rona smiled, forgetting their meaningless fight instantly and Spike and Angel separated, Spike heading to the opposite side of the room.

"C'mon Dawn! Explain to me how you could form a relationship with Andrew without even telling me. Tell me how you could…" Buffy shuttered as she thought about what she was going to say..

"Oh come on Buffy! It's not like you weren't having sex when you were my age," Dawn replied.

"So that's what? Like a free pass to do whatever the hell you want? Just because when I was your age I was having sex! I was in a serious committed relationship!" Buffy shrieked out. Dawn couldn't hold back the laugh and it caused Buffy's glare to intensify. "What's so funny?"

"You were in a relationship with a vampire Buffy! A vampire! No offense Angel." Dawn shouted back at her, causing Spike to laugh and point at Angel, provoking Buffy to snap her head in his direction. As soon as her glare met him, he stopped laughing and coughed slightly. Buffy then turned to look at Willow, Xander and Giles, who all were looking down at their feet and shrugging their shoulders, not knowing exactly what to say.

"We were committed!" Buffy reiterated, sounding completely annoyed at the mention of her relationship with Angel.

"Well Andrew and I are committed too! Why can't you just be happy for me and be happy that I am alive and in love for the first time in my life?" Buffy's hostile expression suddenly softened and Dawn noticed. "Buffy, you know how hard and risky it is for a slayer to love anything. And yeah, obviously Andrew being the only guy around here that is even closed to my age played a part in our relationship… and I wasn't crazy about us in the beginning either. But…" Dawn then looked at the watcher junior and Buffy could see that sparkle in her eyes. The kind that she had once had for Angel and now that she had for Faith. "You should have seen him… the power he has, all the crazy ideas he had to win…"

Buffy and Faith both found themselves smiling, recalling all the cuddles in bed, the smoochies during patrol when they first realized how much they loved each other… the way they could make one another feel as if they were the only person in the whole world that mattered.

Dawn smiled as she looked over at Andrew. The young slayer walked over to him and grabbed his hand, looking toward Buffy and the rest of her family. Andrew however was stricken with terror and quickly pulled his hand out of Dawn's grasp as he continued to look at Buffy without so much as blinking. Everyone giggled at Andrew's reaction and Buffy smiled, letting out a breath of defeat. She made her way over toward Dawn and Andrew, grabbing her sister's hand and placing it in Andrew's once more.

"I want you to be happy Dawnie… more than anything else and if this is what will make you happy… then so be it. But with mom gone, I want you to come to me when things like this happen. I want you to ask me for advice or help… you are the biggest part of my life Dawnie, and I want to share in the happiness with you," Buffy said with a smile still etched on her face.

Dawn suddenly pulled her older sister with her free arm into a fierce hug.

"I love you Buffy."

"I love you too Dawn."

When the hug ended moments later, Buffy kept her smile fixed on a slightly less terrified Andrew. She leaned forward to him and whispered into his ear.

"If she is hurt by your hand or hurt when she is with you… there is no force on this earth that will be able to stop me from torturing you and killing you in the worst possible way you can imagine."

Andrew's eyes widened again and he gulped slightly as Buffy stood back up and clapped her hands together.

"So… meeting?"

* * *

><p>"So you still pissed at Dawnie?" Faith asked as she combed her fingers through Buffy's sweaty hair.<p>

"Why would you even bring that up right now?" Buffy asked, clearly still annoyed at the discovery Andrew and Dawn were dating.

"What's wrong with right now? They are probably in their room doing exactly this," Faith said, laughing out loud. Buffy looked up at Faith then and lightly punched her on the arm.

"Gross… I do not want to think about Dawn having sex," Buffy mumbled as she lay her head back down on Faith's stomach.

"Come on B… you should be happy for her. That she found someone she can be with. You know just as well as I do that the life of slayer can be a lonely thing. And besides, she was understanding when you told her about us," Faith said meaningfully.

"I guess you're right. It's just weird because I always thought Andrew was…" Buffy trailed off.

"Gay?"

"Exactly!" Buffy responded, her head popping up again so she could look at Faith who was wearing a smile and nothing else. "What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking how funny it is that everyone thought ole Andy boy was gay and he surprised them by being straight. And how everyone was sure you were straight as an arrow and now look at you… all shacked up with the likes of me… naked… sweaty," Faith said.

"Hmmm… maybe you are right. It has been a long week… maybe I just need to get used to it," Buffy replied.

"Speaking of which, that meeting was intense. They really faced quite the apocalypse here," Faith said, brushing her fingers over Buffy's bare shoulders. "Most of the castle was destroyed."

"Yep… they are lucky they survived," Buffy said, her eyes closing as exhaustion from the days events took over.

"Three apocalypses in under six months… a vacation under your belt," Faith said, noticing the change in Buffy's breathing as she started to fall asleep. She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the golden slayer's blonde hair, whispering her final words of the night to her.

"So B… what are we going to do now?"

**THE END**


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